THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 

Dr.   Waldemar  Westergaard 


A   POLITICAL   HISTORY   OF 

MODERN    EUROPE 


\ 


A  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF 

MODERN    EUROPE 

FROM  THE  REFORMATION  TO 
THE  PRESENT  DAY 

BY 

FERDINAND    SCHEVILL,  Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR   OF    MODERN    HISTORY    IX    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF  CHICAGO 

NEW   EDITION 


WITH  SIXTEEN  GENEALOGICAL  TABLES 
AND  TWENTY-TWO  MAPS 


m 


NEW  YORK 

HARCOURT,  BRACE   AND    COMPANY 

1921 


COPYRIGHT,    1907,   BY 
FERDINAND    SCHEVILL 


COPYRIGHT,    192  I,   BY 
HARCOURT,   BRACE   AND   COMPANY,   INC. 


9  3^ 


p 


PREFACE 

A  HISTORY  which,  like  the  present  one,  compresses  the 
political  development  of  Europe  during  the  last  four  event- 
ful centuries  into  a  single  volume,  must  needs  give  the  im- 
pression of  being  hurried  and  superficial,  and  be  guilty  of 
a  large  number  of  glaring  omissions.  In  excuse  of  these 
shortcomings  the  author  begs  leave  to  call  attention  to  his 
purpose  merely  to  raise  one  of  those  scaffoldings  which 
must  precede  the  erection  of  an  edifice,  and  which  is  destined 
to  be  cleared  away  when  the  edifice  is  completed.  In  the 
author's  view  his  book  is  no  more  than  an  introduction  to 
the  field,  planned  for  the  convenience  of  the  student  who  is 
taking  his  first  survey  of  this  branch  of  knowledge.  In  the 
hope  of  facilitating  the  beginner's  labors,  the  text  is  accom- 
panied with  references  and  illustrated  by  means  of  maps 
and  genealogical  tables.  A  word  upon  the  text  and  the 
auxiliary  features  will  show  how  they  are  correlated. 

1.  The  text  presents  the  political  development  of  Modern 
Europe  in  the  following  order:  a  Preliminary  Survey,  in- 
troducing the  reader  to  the  intellectual,  moral,  and  political 
conditions  of  the  Renaissance,  is  followed  by  three  parts, 
entitled  respectively,  Part  I.,  The  Reformation  (1500-1648); 
Part  II.,  The  Absolute  Monarchy  (1648-1789);  Part  III., 
Revolution  and  Democracy  (i 789-1906).  Each  part  is 
divided  into  a  convenient  number  of  chapters.  As  soon  as 
a  chapter  has  been  carefully  read  and  fully  understood  the 
student  should  turn  to  the  references. 

2.  The  references  at  the  head  of  each  chapter  enable  the 
student  to  penetrate  more  deeply  into  the  chapter  matter. 


vi  Preface 

They  are  of  two  kinds,  first,  secondary  authorities,  pointing 
a  way  by  which  the  student  may  gather  additional  informa- 
tion, and,  second,  sources,  or  rather  source  readings,  facili- 
tating immediate  contact  with  specimens  of  the  original 
material,  upon  which,  and  upon  which  alone,  all  solid 
historical  knowledge  must  in  the  end  be  based.  With  the 
beginner  in  mind  the  author  has  seen  fit  to  Hmit  his  refer- 
ences to  books  and  documents  in  the  English  language. 

3.  The  maps,  the  close  perusal  of  which  cannot  be  too 
much  insisted  on,  are  scattered  through  the  text  at  the  most 
appropriate  places,  while  the  Chronological  Table  of  the 
Popes  (Appendix  B)  and  the  Genealogical  Tables  of  the 
Sovereign  Houses  (Appendix  C),  bound  together  at  the  end 
of  the  volume,  should  prove  helpful  in  solving  problems  of 
succession  and  family  alliances. 

At  the  end  of  the  volume  will  be  found  a  complete  list 
of  the  books  recommended  under  the  references  together 
with  their  publishers  and  prices  (Appendix  D).  In  Ap- 
pendix A  I  have  selected  from  the  complete  list  of  books 
a  small  number  costing  $25-$3o  and  calculated  to  constitute 
the  nucleus  of  a  serviceable  reference  library  for  every 
student  with  a  serious  interest  in  the  period. 

A  general  atlas,  always  within  reach  during  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  daily  lesson,  will  be  found  a  most  useful  supple- 
ment to  the  maps  in  this  volume.  Several  excellent  works 
of  this  kind  may  be  recommended  to  the  student:  i.  Dow,  E. 
W.,  Atlas  of  European  History.  Henry  Holt.  New  York. 
2.  Putzger,  Historischer  Schulatlas;  with  English  Introduc- 
tion and  German-English  Glossary.  American  agents: 
Lemcke  &  Buechner.  New  York.  $1.25.  Putzger  makes 
a  specialty  of  German  history.  3.  Gardiner,  S.  R.  A 
School  Atlas  of  English  History.  Longmans,  Green. 
London  and  New  York.     $1.50. 

A  word  for  advanced  students  and  teachers,  desirous  of 


Preface  vii 

going  behind  the  simple  references  supplied  in  this  volume. 
Readers  of  this  class  should  aim  primarily  at  a  first-hand 
acquaintance  with  the  sources,  even  though  access  to  them 
is  not  always  easy  and  will  be  found  entirely  impossible 
without  an  extensive  knowledge  of  languages.  Of  course 
the  sources  of  Modern  European  History  cannot  be  classi- 
fied here.  But  the  following  bibliographical  works,  which 
enumerate  and  discuss  the  sources  and  authorities,  may  be 
set  down  for  the  benefit  of  the  more  ambitious  student: 
For  General  European  History. 

Langlois.    Manuel  de  Bibliographie  Historique.   Librairie 
Hachette.     Paris.     1901-4.     2  vols. 
For  English  History. 

Gardiner  and  Midlinger.     Introduction  to  the  Study  of 
English  History.    Kegan  Paul.     London. 
For  German  History. 

Dahlmann-Waitz.    Quellenkunde  der  Deutschen  Geschichte. 
6.  Auflage    Bearbeitet    von   E.  Steindorfj.     Gottingen. 
1894. 
For  French  History. 

Monod.     Bibliographie    de    I'Histoire    de    France.     Li- 
brairie Hachette.     Paris.     1888  (goes  only  to  1789). 
For  the  History  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  excellent,  though 
not  exhaustive,  bibliographies  will  be  found  in  Seignobos. 
A  Political  History  of  Europe  Since  18 14.     Translation 
edited  by  S.  M.  Macvane.     Henry  Holt.     New   York. 
Of  the  greatest  importance  for  the  whole  period  are  the 
various   collections   of   treaties,  such   as   the   following: 
DuMONT.     Corps  Universel  Diplomatique  .  .  .  contenant 
un  recueil  des  Traites  d' Alliance  .  .  .  depuis  le  Rbgne  de 
VEmpereur   Charlemagne   pisqu'a    present.      Amsterdam. 
1726.     8   vols.,   with  Supplements.     Garden.     Histoire 
Genirale  des    Traites  de   Paix  .  .  .  depuis   la   paix  de 
Weslphalie. 


viii  Preface 

1^  vols.  Amyot.  Paris.  Marte.ns  (and  others).  Recueil 
de  Traites  .  .  .  depuis  1761  jusqu'a  present.  69  vols., 
with  Supplements  and  Indexes.  Lihrairie  de  Dieterich. 
Gottingen. 

The  author  desires  to  take  this  occasion  to  thank  the  many 
friends,  and  particularly  the  members  of  his  own  depart- 
ment at  the  University  of  Chicago,  for  valuable  assistance 
,  rendered  in  the  preparation  of  this  book. 

Chicago,   1906 


PREFACE  TO  THE  NEW  EDITION 

This  New  Edition  is  a  reprint  of  the  edition  of  1906 
with  additional  material  bringing  the  European  political 
movement  down  to  1922.  For  former  chapter  xxvii,  On 
the  Threshold  of  a  New  Century,  has  been  substituted  a 
new  chapter  xxvii,  Character  of  European  Civilizaiion  at 
the  Beginning  of  the  Twentieth  Century;  while  chapter 
xxviii,  European  Diplomatic  Relations  from  i8yi  to  igi4 
and  the  Outbreak  of  the  Great  War,  and  chapter  xxix,  The 
War  and  the  Peace,  carry  the  reader  through  the  crisis 
of  the  Great  War  and  the  equally  grave  crisis  of  the 
Peace. 

Chicago,  1921 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

PREFACE v-vui 

INTRODUCTION    . 1-3 

Preliminary  Survey 

CHAPTER 

I.  European   Society   During  the  Renais- 
sance         5-24 

II.  The  European  States  at  the  Begin- 
ning or  the  Modern  Period  .       .       25-43 

III.  The  Church 44-55 

PART  I 
The  Reformation 

IV.  The   Reformation  in  Germany  to   the 

Peace  of  Augsburg  (1555)         .       -      59-84 

V.  The  Progress  of  the  Reformation  in 
Europe  and  the  Counter-Refor- 
mation of  the  Catholic  Church     .     85-106 

VI.  Spain  under  Charles  I.  (1516-56), 
known  as  Emperor  Charles  V.,  and 
Philip  II.  (1556-98);  her  World 
Eminence  and  her  Decay        .       .  107-118 

VII.  England  under  the  Tudors;  Triumph 
OF  the  Reformation  under  Eliza- 
beth (i558-i6c>3> 119-15*5 


:  Contents 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

VIII.  The  Revolt  or  the  Netherlands  and 
Triumph  of  the  Seven  United  Prov- 
inces (1566-1648)  157-177 

IX.  The  Reformation  and  the  Ci\tl  Wars 

IN  France 178-202 

X.  The   Thirty    Years'    War   and   the 

Peace  of  Westphalia        .       .       .  203-227 


PART  II 
The  Absolute  Monarchy 

XI.  The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revo- 
lution        231-273 

XII.  The   Ascendancy   of   France   under 

Louis  XIV.  (1643-1715)      .       -       .  274-288 

XIII.  The  Rise  of  Russia  and  the  Decline 

OF  Sweden 289-301 

XIV.  The  Rise  of  Prussia      ....  302-322 

XV.  England  and   France  in  the  Eigh- 
teenth Century 323-340 


PART  III 

Revolution  and  Democracy 

XVI.  The  French  Revolution  (i 789-181 5)  343-413 

XVII.  The  Period  of  Reaction      .       .       .  414-427 

XVIII.  The  Bourbon  Restoration  and  the 

Revolution  of  1830    ....  428-437 


Contents  xi 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XIX.  The  Government  of  Louis  Philippe 
(1830-48)  AND  THE  Revolution  of 
1848  . 438-444 

XX.  The  Revolution  of  1848  in  Geioiany, 

Austria,  and  Italy      ....  445-457 

XXI.  France  under  Napoleon  III.  and  the 

Unification  of  Italy  ....  458-467 

XXII.  The  Unlfication  of  Germany     .       .  468-479 

XXIII.  Great   Britain   in   the   Nineteenth 

Century 480-490 

XXIV.  Russia  in  the  Nineteenth  Century; 

the     Ottoman     Empire    and     the 
Balkan  Question        ....  491-501 

XXV.  Central  Europe  Since  the  Unifica- 
tion OF  Italy  and  Germany    .       .  502-515 

XXVI.  The  Minor  States  of  Europe    .       .  516-529 

XX VII.  Character  of  European  Civilization 

AT  the  Beginning  of  the  Twenti- 
eth Century 530-S47 

XXVIII.  European     Diplomatic     Relations 

from    1871    TO    1914   AND    the    OUT- 
BREAK of  the  Great  War     .       .   548-567 

XXIX.  The  War  and  the  Peace    .      .      .  568-605 

APPENDIX  A.  A  Brief  List  of  Books  Spe- 
cially Recommended 607-609 

APPENDIX  B.  Chronological  Table  of  the 
Popes  from  the  Renaissance  to  the  Pre- 
sent Day 610 


xii  Contents 


APPENDIX  C.    Genealogical  Tables  of  the 

So\EREiGN  Houses  of  Europe    .  .       .  611-627 

TABLE  PAGE 

I.  Spain,  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  and  Isabella 

of  Castile 611 

XL               The  House  of  Hapsburg  .       .       .  612 

III.  Spain,  The  Spanish  Bourbons,  and  their 

Neapolitan  Branch         .        .        .  613 

IV.  Portugal 614-615 

V.  Austria,  The  House  of  Hapsburg    .       .  616 

VI.  Prussia,  The  House  of  Hohenzollern       .  617 

VII.  France,  The  House  of  Valois    .       .       .  618 

VIII.                   The  House  of  Bourbon     .        .  619 

IX.                   The  House  of  Bonaparte  .        .  620 

X,  England,  The  Houses  of  Tudor,  Stuart, 

Hanover ;  the  House  of  Saxe-Coburg     .  621 

XI,  The  Dutch  Netherlands,  The  House  of 

Orange-Nassau 622 

XII.  Sweden,  The  House  of  Vasa  and  Vasa- 

Holstein;  the  House  of  Bernadotte      .  623 

XIII.  Denmark,  The  House  of  Oldenburg;  the 

House  of  Gliicksburg 624 

XIV.  Russia,  The  Houses  of  Romanoff  and  Ro- 

manoff-Holstein-Gottorp      ....  625 

XV.  Italy,  The  House  of  Savoy      .       .       .  626 

XVI.  Florence,  The  House  of  Medici     .       .  627 

APPENDIX  D.     General  Bibliography  .       .628-640 

INDEX 641 


.  Facing  page 

lO 

u 

a 

3° 

C( 

a 

36 

(C 

Cl 

36 

MAPS 

1.  THE   VOYAGES   OF   DISCOVERY       . 

2.  ITALY   IN   THE   RENAISSANCE 

3.  THE   UNIFICATION   OF   FRANCE     . 

4.  THE  UNIFICATION   OF   SPAIN 

5.  GERMANY     ON     THE     EVE     OF     THE     REFORMATION 

Facing  page    68 

6.  THE  SWISS  CONFEDERATION    .    .    "      "    86 

7.  THE  NETHERLANDS  AT  THE  TRUCE  OF  1609 

Facing  page  170 

8.  TERRITORIAL     GAINS     IN     THE     PEACE     OF     WEST- 

PHALIA        Facing  page  224 

9.  ENGLAND   AND    WALES    (1643)      •  -         "  "        250 

10.  ACQUISITIONS     OF     LOUIS     XIV.     AND     LOUIS     XV. 

Facing  page  279 

11.  WESTERN  EUROPE  AFTER  THE  TREATIES  OF  UTRECHT 

AND  RASTADT  (1713-14)        .       .  Facing  page  287 

12.  SWEDEN   AND   RUSSIA    ON   THE   BALTIC       "  "        294 

13.  THE   TERRITORIAL   GROWTH  OF   PRUSSIA  "  "        314 

14.  THE   PARTITION   OF   POLAND          .          .         "  ■  "        314 

15.  EUROPE    AT    THE    HEIGHT    OF    NAPOLEON 'S  POWER 

(181 2) Facing  page  404 

16.  EUROPE   AFTER   THE   CONGRESS   AT   VIENNA    (1815) 

Facing  page  416 

17.  THE   UNIFICATION   OF  ITALY         .         .         .  Page  464 

siii 


xiv  Maps 

1 8.  GROWTH   OF    PRUSSIA    IN    THE    NINETEENTH    CEN- 

TURY   Facing  page  472 

19.  THE    BALKAN    PENINSULA    AFTER    THE    TREATY    OF 

BERLIN Facing  page  496 

20.  THE  RACES   OF  AUSTRIA-HUNGARY      .         "  "        $12 

21.  THE   PARTITION  OF  AFRICA.         .         .         "  "        54© 

22.  THE   WORLD   POWERS   OF    I914   .         .        "  "        55^ 


INTRODUCTION 


SCOPE  AND   OBJECT  OF  THE  PRESENT  BOOK 

This  book  aims  to  present  the  history  of  Europe  during  Preliminary 
the  Modern  Period.     To  avoid  misunderstanding,  I  desire 
at  the  outset  to  come  to  an  agreement  with  the  reader  upon 
the  term  Modern,  and  to  examine  the  meaning  of  the  elastic 
word  history. 

Everybody  is  agreed  that  Modern  History  refers  to  the  re-  Chronologicai 

.       ,        ,        ,  r    1       ,  t  •         limits  of  this 

cent  stages  m  the  development  of  the  human  race,  but  opm-  book. 
ions  differ  widely  as  to  the  point  where  it  properly  begins. 
A  moment's  reflection  will  show  that  agreement  is  not  essen- 
tial, for  let  it  be  once  understood  that  history  is  a  continuous 
and  uninterrupted  evolution,  during  which  man  passes 
slowly  from  barbarism  to  civilization,  and  it  will  be  granted 
that  hard-and-fast  divisions  ai"e  out  of  the  question.  The 
familiar  terms  Ancient,  Medijeval,  and  Modern  conveniently 
designate  broad  successive  stages  in  the  progress  of  man- 
kind, but  it  is  absurd  to  pretend  that  each  period  has  a  pre- 
cise beginning  and  ending.  Modern  History,  for  instance, 
must  begin  with  the  modern  man;  but  as  he  emerged  very 
gradually  from  the  mediaeval  world,  it  is  impossible  to  say 
at  what  exact  point  his  story  begins  and  that  of  his  prede- 
cessor terminates.  For  this  reason  I  am  content  to  conform 
to  the  current  usage,  according  to  which  Modern  History 
begins  with  the  Protestant  Reformation.  Nobody  will  dis- 
pute that  by  that  time  the  modern  man  was  in  full  possession 
of  the  scene.  From  the  Reformation  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury to  the  early  years  of  the  twentieth  century  is  a  period 


Introduction 


of  four  hundred  years,  whose  story  is  to  be  told  in  this 
book. 
The  term  Far  more  important  and  subject  to  reasonable  contention 

defined.  is  the  term  history.    In  former  times  all  scholars  who  made 

it  their  business  to  collect  the  facts  of  the  past  were  called 
historians,  and  the  books  wherein  they  recorded  them  were 
CctUed  histories.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  the  most  diver- 
sified materials  were  crowded  within  the  covers  of  a  single 
work,  a  history,  say  of  France,  telling  us  of  the  kings  and  of 
their  court,  of  the  government  and  administration,  of  the 
economic  resources  and  industrial  methods,  of  religion  and 
morals,  and  of  the  progress  of  the  arts.  And  many  people, 
accepting  the  old  tradition,  believe  that  all  these  matters 
should  still  be  included  in  a  book  putting  forth  the  pre- 
tension to  be  a  history.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  no 
denying  that  historical  materials  have  swelled  so  enor- 
mously in  the  last  fifty  years  that  for  a  single  man  to  acquaint 
himself  with  all  the  various  phases  of  even  a  limited  period 
of  the  past  is  difiScult,  and  to  compress  them  into  a  single  vol- 
ume an  impossibility.  We  hear  much  in  these  days  of  the 
principle  of  specialization,  which  has  been  applied,  and  is 
destined  in  still  larger  measure  to  be  applied,  to  every  form 
of  manual  and  intellectual  labor.  Under  the  specializing 
influence  of  our  time  the  province  of  history  has  been  sub- 
divided into  many  fields,  such  as  economics,  political  science, 
sociology,  and  diplomacy;  and  the  work  which  used  to  be 
done  by  the  historian  alone,  now  engages  the  energy  of  many 
special  groups  of  investigators.  In  consequence,  the  need 
has  been  felt  on  the  part  of  many  to  redefine  history  in 
accordance  with  the  new  conditions.  But,  unfortunately,  no 
general  agreement  has  yet  been  reached.  Pending  the  set- 
tlement, I  am  prepared  to  adopt  the  view  which  commands 
the  greatest  number  of  adherents,  and  which  aflarms  that 
history  is  concerned  primarily  with  politics,  and  secondarily 


Introduction 


with  everything  else  in  the  life  of  a  nation  affecting  politics. 
By  politics  I  understand  the  development  of  government  in 
the  different  countries,  the  work  of  these  governments  in 
making  laws  and  administering  home  affairs,  and  the  rela- 
tions of  the  governments  among  themselves  in  peace  and 
war.  It  is  therefore  understood  that  the  present  volume  will 
treat  of  the  politics  of  the  countries  of  Europe,  not,  however, 
without  duly  taking  note  of  those  changes  in  economics, 
morals,  religion,  art,  and  literature  which  are  the  causes, 
and  therefore  furnish  the  explanation,  of  every  new  politicall 
upheaval. 


PRELIMINARY    SURVEY 

CHAPTER  I 

EUROPEAN    SOCIETY   DURING    THE    RENAISSANCE 

References  :  Adams,  Civilization  During  the  Middle  Ages, 
Chapters  XII.,  XV.;  Symonds,  A  Short  History  of  the 
Renaissance  in  Italy;  Symonds,  Renaissance  in  Italy, 
especially  the  volumes,  Age  of  the  Despots,  Revival  of 
Learning,  Fine  Arts;  Burckhardt,  The  Civilization  of 
the  Renaissance  (excellent  for  the  many  aspects  of  Ital- 
ian culture);  Fiske,  Discovery  of  America;  Beazley, 
Prince  Henry  (of  Portugal) ;  The  Cambridge  Modern 
History,  Vol.  I.,  The  Renaissance,  Chapters  I.,  II., 
XV.,  XVI.,  XVII.;  Cartwright,  Beatrice  D'Este,»also 
Isabella  D'Este  (for  court  life  in  Italy). 

Source  Readings:  Whitcomb,  Literary  Source  Book  of 
the  Italian  Renaissance  (extracts  from  Dante,  Petrarch, 
Boccaccio,  etc.) ;  Robinson  and  Rolfe,  Petrarch  (selec- 
tions from  his  correspondence);  Robinson,  Readings 
in  European  History,  Vol.  I.,  Chapter  XXII.;  Vol.  II., 
Chapter  XXIII. ;  Benvenuto  Cellini,  LifeAVritten  by 
Himself  (full  of  Renaissance  atmosphere);  Machia- 
VELLi,  The  Prince  (on  Italian  state-craft) ;  Vasari,  Lives 
of  the  Painters;  Castiglione,  The  Book  of  the  Cour- 
tier (excellent  for  the  manners  of  the  great  world) ;  Old 
South  Leaflets,  Nos.  29,  33  (Columbus). 

The  Introduction  has  informed  the  reader  what  centuries  The  Renala* 
I  intend  to  cover  and  what  material  I  purpose  to  include  in 
this  book.     We  are  now  prepared  to  take  up  the  general 


European  Society 


features  of  Europe  at  the  opening  of  our  period.  I  have  al- 
ready said  that  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  is  a 
convenient  and  traditional  starting-point  for  the  Modern 
Period,  and  I  added  that  this  opinion  prevailed  because  by 
the  year  1500  man,  in  spite  of  the  mediaeval  characteristics 
which  still  clung  to  him,  had  essentially  assumed  a  modem 
aspect.  The  one  thousand  years  before  1500  are  generally 
agreed  to  constitute  the  Mediaeval  Period,  but  naturally 
during  these  one  thousand  years  Europe,  in  accordance  with 
the  universal  law  of  life,  was  in  perpetual  though  very  grad- 
ual transformation.  Let  no  one  dream  that  the  long  Med- 
iaeval Period  presents  to  the  student  a  single  and  unchang- 
ing face.  Especially  in  its  last  stage  new  forces  appear 
which  greatly  accelerate  the  evolution  of  society.  In  the 
course  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  quite  distinctly  by  the 
beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  man  began  noticeably 
to  extend  his  horizon  and  give  proof  of  a  rapidly  increasing 
individual  effectiveness.  Instead  of  indolence  we  meet  with 
stir  and  strife,  instead  of  indifference  we  encounter  curiosity 
and  gladness.  This  section  of  the  IMiddle  Ages,  approxi- 
mately covering  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  from 
1250  A.D.  to  1500  A.D.,  is  therefore  very  properly  called 
the  time  of  rebirth,  or  Renaissance.  Let  us  pass  in  re- 
view the  main  forces  and  events  which  produced  this  as- 
tonishing change  and  supplanted  the  mediaeval  with  the 
modern  man. 

7.  The  Revival  of  Industry,  Commerce,  and  Town  Life. 
Mediaeval  The  early  Middle  Ages  were  mainly  characterized  by  the 

socictv 

.is  agri-  decay  of  Roman  civilization,  attended  by  the  first  timid  steps 

ailtura  qJ  l-j^g  German  barbarians  and  conquerors  toward  the  found- 

ing of  new  states.  Economically  considered,  these  centuries 
constituted  an  agricultural  period,  during  which  the  people 
lived  for  the  most  part  directly  on  the  soil.     The  two  con- 


During  the  Renaissance 


siderable  classes  were  the  landlords,  or  baronage,  who  owned 
the  land  and  the  peasants  who  tilled  it.  What  industry  ex- 
isted was  calculated  to  meet  the  bare  needs  of  living,  and  was 
chiefly  confined  to  the  building  of  rude  peasant  huts  and 
rough-fashioned  though  often  vast  and  imposing  castles;  to 
the  making  of  primitive  yokes,  carts,  and  clothing;  to  the 
forging  of  clumsy  weapons;  and  to  such  other  simple  work 
as  could  be  done  by  the  peasants  in  their  scattered  settle- 
ments. Until  society  had  acquired  a  wider  outlook  and  men 
began  to  demand  something  more  than  just  food  enough  to 
appease  their  hunger,  and  skins  and  homespuns  enough  to 
clothe  their  nakedness,  there  would  be  no  need  of  cities,  the 
first  object  of  which  is  to  furnish  comforts  by  means  of  manu- 
facture, and  to  distribute  them  by  means  of  commerce. 
Cities,  immense  cities,  had  existed  when  the  Roman  Empire 
was  at  its  height,  but  they  had  all  fallen  into  decay,  and 
many  had  perished  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  early 
Middle  Ages  were  substantially  a  cityless  period.  But  grad- 
ually the  raw  and  vigorous  nations  which  arose  upon  the 
ruins  of  the  Roman  Empire  advanced  sufficiently  out  of 
their  early  barbarism  to  ask  for  something  more  than  bare 
necessities.  The  demand  they  gradually  created  for  con-  The  growth 
veniences  and  luxuries  was  soon  no  longer  capable  of  being 
met  by  the  casual  labor  of  unskilled  peasants,  but  required 
the  trained  hand  of  professional  craftsmen.  Here  lies  the 
beginning  of  the  mediaeval  town  or  commune.  In  Italy,  as 
the  land  which  had  bloomed  most  splendidly  under  the  Ro- 
man Empire  and  had  received  the  least  injury  from  the  bar- 
barian invasions,  the  movement  made  itself  felt  first.  De- 
cay was  checked;  a  distinct  revival  followed.  The  impulse, 
communicated  as  early  as  the  eleventh  century,  was  in  full 
swing  by  the  twelfth.  Almost  at  the  same  time  appeared 
the  symptoms  of  an  awakening  of  city  life  in  France,  Ger- 
many, and  the  other  countries  of  Europe. 


8 


European  Society 


The  cities 
mean  wealth, 
intellectual 
stir,  and  politi- 
cal freedom. 


Italy  leads  in 
commerce 
and  industry. 


The  result  of  the  new  economic  demands  was  to  draw  th« 
peasants  in  increasing  numbers  into  small  community  settle- 
ments, frequently  around  some  castle  or  monastery,  and  ol 
these  some  of  the  more  favorably  situated  presently  grew  to 
be  considerable  towns.  Their  quiet  lanes  became  crowded 
thoroughfares;  they  resounded  with  the  whirr  of  loom  or 
beat  of  hammer  upon  anvil;  they  widened  at  intervals  into 
market  squares,  where  busy  trade  chattered  and  bargained 
around  well-stocked  booths.  These  activities  not  only 
brought  wealth,  but  made  men  more  self-reliant,  stirred 
them  with  new  thoughts.  We  are  all  aware  that  intercourse, 
involving  human  attrition,  travel,  strange  sights,  is  the  best 
available  education.  This  advantage  the  townsmen  enjoyed, 
and  were  soon  raised  by  it  to  a  higher  plane  of  civilization 
than  the  governing  classes.  They  grew  restive  under  the 
feudal  yoke,  demanded  that  they  be  given  the  control  of 
their  own  affairs,  and  ended  by  rising  in  revolution  against 
their  privileged  oppressors.  It  is  of  immense  importance  to 
the  history  of  the  world  that  the  new  people,  that  is,  the 
burghers,  were  victorious.  They  wrested  from  the  feudal 
powers  charters  of  liberties,  by  which  they  constituted  their 
towns  republics — sporadic  germs  of  freedom  and  progress 
in  the  dreary  deserts  of  feudalism.  Their  democracy  had 
generally  a  less  liberal  character  than  thaTof  the^  present 
day,  as  only  the  well-to-do  were  given  the  right  to  vote  and 
hold  office;  but  it  was  none  the  less  a  very  real  growth,  and 
Jn  any  case  marks  the  appearance  of  that  political  principle 
of  popular  government  which  is  one  of  the  most  constant 
interests  of  Jhejiiodern  age . 

In  Italy  sprang  up  not  only  the  first  but  also  the  most  vig~ 
orous  city  republics.  Venice,  Genoa,  Pisa,  Milan,  and  Flor- 
ence acquired  a  wealth  and  civilization  which  made  them 
shine  out  like  points  of  light  in  their  own  day,  and  still  invest 
them  with  an  aureole  to  our  admiring  eyes.     They  d<'veloped 


Dnring  the  Renaissance 


the  industrial  arts,  such  as  the  weaving  of  silk  and  wool, 
and  the  forging  of  armor  and  weapons;  and  they  exchanged 
these  articles  upon  the  marts  of  the  Orient  for  carpets,  sugar, 
fruits,  and,  above  all,  spices,  used  much  more  freely  then 
than  now  ^ ;  or,  in  the  ports  of  the  North  Sea,  for  fish,  amber, 
and  lumber.  The  whole  Mediterranean  Sea,  together  with 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  as  far  north  as  the  Baltic,  was  drawn 
into  the  field  of  enterprise  of  these  Italian  cities,  and  was 
furrowed  in  every  direction  by  their  galleys.  That  the  cities 
of  the  north  were  not  slow  to  see  the  advantages  of  this  ac- 
tivity is  made  evident  by  the  great  league  of  German  towns, 
called  the  Hanse,  which  monopolized  the  trade  of  the  north- 
ern coasts  and  grew  powerful  enough  to  depose  and  set  up 
kings. 

Starting  with  the  eleventh  century  began  that  great  move-   The  Crusades 
ment  known  as  the  Crusades.     The  Crusades  were,  on  the   orient  to 
surface,  an  unsuccessful  two  hundred  years'  war  of  the   Europe. 
Christian  west  against  the  Mohammedan  east  for  the  re- 
covery of  the  Holy  Places  of  Palestine;  but,  deeply  considered, 
they  were  a  commercial  movement  which  introduced  the 
European  nations  to  the  luxurious  markets  of  Asia,  and 
powerfully  stimulated  their  curiosity  and  enterprise.     The 
mental  and  material  benefits  which  resulted  from  this  inter- 
course were  largely  appropriated  by  the  cities  of  Italy,  partly 
because  they  were  earliest  on  the  ground,  and  partly  be- 
cause they  enjoyed  a  geographical  advantage  over  all  com- 
petitors.    In  fact,  the  Crusades  brought  to  the  hard-headed 
merchants  of  Venice  and  Genoa  nothing  less  than  the  com- 
mercial monopoly  of  the  east. 

Naturally,  as  the  towns  and  nations  lying  farther  to  the  The  wealth  of 

'  the  east  stimu- 
lates dis- 


'  In  mediaeval  times  people  not  only  spiced  their  dishes  more  liberally    covery. 
than  we  do,  but  also  seasoned  their  wines  and   medicines  with  spices. 
The  spices  most  in  demand  were  pepper,  cinnamon,  nutmeg,  cloves,  and 
ginger.      Other  Oriental  products,  such  as  camphor  and  indigo  (for  dye- 
ing cloths),  were  also  highly  prized. 


lO  European  Society 

west  developed,  they  began  to  be  filled  with  the  desire  of 
breaking  through  the  trade  monopoly  enjoyed  by  the  Italian 
cities  and  of  sharing  in  its  immense  benefits.  The  problem 
before  them  was  to  find  a  route  to  the  Orient  other  than  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  controlled  by  Genoa  and  Venice.  The 
coming  of  the  Turks,  who  by  the  fifteenth  century  were  be- 
ginning to  render  the  Mediterranean  traffic  uncertain,  made 
it  still  further  urgent  to  find  another  passage  to  the  spice 
lands.  Portugal  first  began  the  search,  conducting  her  en- 
terprises on  the  theor)'  that  it  was  possible  tu  break  through, 
or  sail  around,  Africa.  Thus  began  the  discoveries,  a  di- 
rect consequence,  as  will  be  seen,  of  the  Crusades,  which, 
in  their  turn,  are  intimately  linked  with  the  whole  movement 
of  the  revival  of  industry,  commerce,  and  town  life. 

//.  The  Discoveries. 

The  The  long  chain  of  voyages  which  ended  by  making  known 

voyages'.^^^  to  man  all  the  important  seas  and  lands  of  our  planet,  must  be 
reckoned  among  the  most  conspicuous  events  of  the  Renais- 
sance. They  constitute  the  Age  of  Discovery,  a  period  when 
this  plain  earth  suddenly  gave  birth  to  miracles.  The 
brilliant  story  begins  with  the  Portuguese  exploration  of  the 
African  coast.  The  first  impulse  to  this  enterprise  was  given 
by  a  prince  of  the  royal  house,  Henry,  famous  in  chronicle  as 
Prince  Henry  the  Navigator,  although  he  seems  never  to  have 
sailed  beyond  the  waters  of  his  native  land.  His  service  con- 
sisted in  rousing  in  others  an  enthusiasm  for  discovery  and  in 
tirelessly  fitting  out  new  expeditions.  Prince  Henry  began 
this  work  about  1426,  and  devoted  himself  to  it  until  his 
death  in  1460.  By  that  time  the  Azores  and  Cape  Verde 
Islands  had  been  discovered  and  the  coast  of  Africa  had  been 
traced  almost  to  the  equator.  Still  the  shore  did  not  take  the 
desired  angle  to  the  northeast  which  would  show  that  the 
continent  had  been  rounded.     At  last,  in  i486,  Diaz  was 


During  tJie  Renaissance  II 

rewarded  with  success  and  sailed  a  few  leagues  around  the  Vasco  da 
Cape  of  Good  Hope;  and  twelve  years  later  (1498)  Vasco  da  indiafi^gs.  ^^ 
Gama  crowned  a  century  of  heroic  effort  by  sailing  across 
the  Indian  Ocean  to  Calicut  in  Hindostan,  thus  reaching  the 
Orient  by  the  long-sought  independent  route.  Europe  was 
now  furnished  with  spices  from  Lisbon  more  cheaply  than 
by  the  Italian  cities,  to  whom  Portuguese  enterprise  had  de- 
livered a  mortal  blow.  Their  heyday  was  over,  and  their 
decline  began. 

The  discoveries  of  the  Portuguese  stimulated  their  neigh-   The  Spanish 

VOV  3.PGS« 

bors,  the  Spaniards,  to  make  similar  efforts.  As  early  as 
the  second  century  after  Christ  the  Greek  astronomer 
Ptolemy  had  put  forth  the  hypothesis  that  the  earth  was 
round,  but  as  he  had  little  secure  information  he  made  the 
mistake  of  calculating  the  earth's  circumference  at  much  too 
small  a  figure.  The  ideas  of  Ptolemy  had  been  allowed  to  fall 
into  partial  oblivion  in  the  Middle  Ages,  but  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  owing  to  the  Portuguese  successes,  the  Ptolemaic 
geography  was  again  taken  up,  and  the  theory  argued  and 
defended  by  scientific  men  that  the  Oriental  spice  and 
treasure  lands,  vaguely  called  India,  could  be  reached  by  a 
western  route.  The  most  fervent  exponent  of  this  idea  was 
Christopher  Columbus  (1446-1506),  an  Italian  mariner  from  Columbus 
Genoa.  He  laid  his  plan  before  the  various  governments  America, 
most  likely  to  be  interested,  and  finally  secured  the  support  of  ^'*92- 
Isabella,  queen  of  Castile.  He  was  suppHed  with  three 
small  caravels,  the  Santa  Maria,  the  Pinta,  and  the  Nina, 
and  on  August  3,  1492,  set  sail  from  Palos,  a  port  of  western 
Spain.  On  October  12th  he  touched  at  San  Salvador,  in  the 
Bahamas,  and  before  he  returned  had  discovered  Cuba  and 
Hayti.  Owing  to  Ptolemy's  understatement  of  the  earth's 
circumference,  Columbus  believed  that  he  had  reached  the 
east  coast  of  Asia,  the  region  of  the  fabled  India,  and  the 
name  Indians,  which  he  consequently  applied  to  the  aborig- 


13 


Europeati  Society 


Discoveries 
multiplied. 


Cabot. 


ines,  has  clung  to  them  ever  since.  The  great  discoverer 
drew  much  immediate  honor  from  his  adventure;  he  was  made 
admiral,  was  invested  with  the  viceroyalty  of  the  new  lands, 
and  was  received  into  the  hereditary  nobility  of  Spain.  But 
chagrin  and  suffering  forced  their  company  upon  him,  and 
on  one  occasion  he  was  arrested  and  sent,  a  prisoner  in  irons, 
from  the  world  he  had  discovered  to  the  country  which  he 
had  enriched.  On  his  death,  in  1506,  near  ValladoHd,  he 
was  rapidly  forgotten,  and  by  a  tragic  mishap  the  world 
which  he  had,  so  to  speak,  called  out  of  the  void  ^  was  not 
named  after  him,  but  after  a  relatively  unimportant  traveller 
and  geographer,  the  Florentine  Amerigo  Vespucci.  Between 
1492  and  1506  Columbus  made  four  voyages  across  the  At- 
lantic, but  the  later  ones  did  not  add  very  materially  to  the 
information  supplied  by  the  first,  and  the  great  pathfinder 
died,  as  he  had  lived,  under  the  erroneous  impression  that 
he  had  reached  Asia  and  the  Indian  spice  lands. 

In  consequence  of  these  successes  discovery  became  a 
passion,  especially  among  the  Portuguese  and  Spaniards. 
Though  the  seas  were  wide  and  perilous,  every  adventurer's 
soul  felt  a  personal  summons  to  strike  out  into  the  unknown 
regions,  whence  fame  and  riches  beckoned.  No  period  of 
history  is  more  astir  with  action  and  enterprise,  more  illu- 
mined with  the  light  of  romance.  Voyage  followed  upon 
voyage,  each  contributing  its  mite  to  the  completion  of  the 
world's  geography.  In  1497  John  Cabot,  a  Venetian  citi- 
zen in  the  employ  of  Henry  VII.  of  England,  first  reached 
the  coast  of  North  America,  and  in  1499  Pinzon,  who  had 
accompanied  Columbus  on  his  first  voyage,  skirted  the  shore 
of  Brazil.  The  climax  of  this  period  of  enterprise  was  reached 
when  Magellan,  a  Portuguese  in  the  Spanish  service,  at- 


'  It  may  be  noticed  in  passing  that  the  Northmen,  coming  from  Iceland, 
had  discovered  America  in  the  tenth  century  and  called  it  Vinland.  But 
as  their  discovery  was  not  followed  up,  it  had  no  results  for  civilization,  and 
does  not  detract  in  the  least  from  the  well-earned  fame  of  Columbusi. 


During  the  Renaissance  13 

tempted  in  1 5 19  to  find  a  passage  to  Asia  around  the  southern  Magellan  sails 
point  of  America.  Having  successfully  rounded  Cape  Horn,  ^orid  ^  ^ 
he  was  the  first  to  furrow  the  Pacific,  and  in  1522,  after  a 
journey  of  three  years,  his  ship,  Victoria,  reached  its  Euro- 
pean starting-point.  Magellan  himself  did  not  live  to  see 
the  end,  for  he  was  killed  upon  the  Philippine  Islands,  but 
the  honor,  nevertheless,  of  the  first  circumnavigation  of  the 
globe  belongs  to  him. 

As  the  discoveries  had  their  beginning  in  man's  com- 
mercial instincts,  the  opening  of  new  markets,  of  new  fields 
of  enterprise,  was  the  most  immediate  benefit  which  they 
conferred.  But  other  results  followed.  Full  of  a  new  Colonization, 
energy,  the  European  nations  presently  resolved  to  Chris- 
tianize these  new  regions  and  settle  them  with  colonists,  in 
other  words,  to  convert  them  into  a  new  and  larger  Europe, 
This  movement  was  likely  to  prove  entirely  successful  only 
in  the  savage  and  sparsely  settled  continents  of  North  and 
South  America.  In  the  more  advanced  and  thickly  inhab- 
ited regions  of  Asia  the  natives  would  find  resources  in  them- 
selves, enabling  them  to  resist  European  assimilation.  In 
consequence,  we  note  a  difference:  Asia  remained,  as  at  first, 
merely  a  field  of  commercial  exploitation;  the  Americas,  how- 
ever, were  actually  overrun  and  Europeanized. 

In  this  movement,  Portugal  and  Spain,  as  first  upon  the  Spain  and 
ground,    had   an    advantage    over    other    nations.     For    a   to'monopolTze 

moment  they  even  dreamed  of   excluding  all  third  parties  the  new 

■'  01  discoveries. 

and  sharing  the  immense  booty  between  themselves.  In 
the  year  1493  the  Pope,  on  being  appealed  to  as  arbiter, 
gave  his  sanction  to  the  division  of  the  New  World  between 
the  two  peninsular  powers.  After  much  haggling  they 
agreed  upon  the  meridian  which  lay  three  hundred  and  sev- 
enty leagues  west  of  the  Cape  Verde  Islands  as  a  boundary 
line.  All  new  discoveries  to  the  east  of  this  meridian  were 
to  belong  to  Portugal,  all  to  the  west  to  Spain.     But  this  ar- 


14 


European  Society 


The  Portu- 
guese and 
Spanish 
colonies. 


The  colonial 

activity  of 
England. 


rangement  could  not  be  permanently  maintained.  Each 
power  was  likely  to  hold  only  what  it  could  actually  lay 
hands  on,  and  both  together  would  find  it  impossible  to  shut 
out  determined  rivals.  Sooner  or  later  England,  France, 
and,  very  likely,  other  countries  would  join  in  the  scramble 
for  the  new  possessions,  and  such  were  their  moral  and  ma- 
terial resources  that  they  were  sure  to  effect  a  lodgment. 

The  fierce  colonial  rivalry  among  the  European  powers  is 
one  of  the  most  important  interests  of  the  Modern  Period, 
and  will  play  no  small  part  in  this  history.  For  the  present, 
however,  we  shall  merely  associate  the  various  European 
powers  with  the  main  regions  which  they  selected  for  colonial 
enterprise.  The  Portuguese  planted  trading  posts  along 
the  coast  of  Africa  and  the  southern  shore  of  Asia,  and  by 
means  of  them  long  dominated  the  trade  of  the  Indian 
Ocean.  They  also  settled  Brazil,  which  lay  to  the  east  of 
the  meridian  agreed  upon  with  Spain,  with  sufficient  num- 
bers of  their  own  people  to  make  it  Portuguese  in  speech  and 
manners.  The  Spaniards  located  their  chief  colonial  cen- 
tres at  the  following  points:  (i)  The  West  Indies,  whither 
Columbus  himself  had  first  directed  the  stream  of  immigra- 
tion; (2)  Mexico,  which  was  won  for  the  Spaniards  by  the 
intrepid  conqueror  Cortez;  (3)  Peru,  which  was  acquired  by 
Pizarro;  (4)  The  Philippine  Islands,  secured  by  Magellan. 
With  the  West  Indies,  Mexico,  and  Peru  as  bases  of  action, 
Spain  surrounded  and  soon  occupied  the  whole  region  of 
Central  and  South  America  except  Brazil,  while  by  means 
of  the  Philippine  Islands  she  acquired  an  important  foothold 
in  Asiatic  waters. 

The  northern  European  countries  entered  late,  and  with 
only  gradually  increasing  vigor,  into  the  contest  for  the 
possession  of  the  new  continents.  The  little  which  Henry 
VII.  of  England  did  to  secure  a  share  for  his  nation  in  the 
great  extension  of  the  world  is  of  importance  only  by  reason 


During  the  Renaissance  15 


of  consequences  which  he  did  not  foresee.  In  1497  he  sent 
out  John  Cabot,  who  actually  touched  the  shore  of  North 
America.  After  Cabot,  English  enterprise  rested  for  a 
while,  and  when  it  revived  was  directed  toward  the  dis- 
covery of  still  another  passage,  a  passage  by  the  waters  of  the 
northwest,  to  the  spice  lands  of  Asia,  in  order  by  this  means 
to  elude  both  the  Portuguese  and  Spaniards,  who  had 
pushed  thither  by  following  respectively  southeasterly  and 
southwesterly  courses.  This  attempt  was  destined  to  fail- 
ure on  account  of  the  far  projection  of  North  America  into 
the  Arctic  Sea,  but  it  had  the  effect  of  at  least  keeping  alive 
the  EngUsh  interest  in  the  North  American  coast.  Not 
until  the  seventeenth  century,  however,  did  England  realize 
her  opportunities,  when  she  actively  undertook  the  coloniza- 
tion of  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 

The  French  were  even  more  lax  than  the  English  in  the  Thecolonia! 
matter  of  colonization,  and  it  was  not  until  the  reign  of  France. ° 
Henry  IV.  (1589-1610)  that  they  seriously  undertook  to 
carve  out  a  conquest  for  themselves.  They  then  hastened 
to  undo,  as  far  as  possible,  the  consequences  of  their  neglect 
by  settlements  in  Canada,  and  later  in  Louisiana — that  is, 
in  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Mississippi  basins. 

Germany,  a  divided  country  with  a  decrepit  central  gov- 
ernment, was  in  no  position  to  assert  herself  and  claim  a 
share  in  the  new  lands.  She,  as  well  as  nations  similarly 
paralyzed,  like  Italy  and  Poland,  came  off  with  empty 
hands. 

///.  The  Revival  of  Learning  and  the  Bloom  of  the 

Fine  Arts. 

Hand  in  hand  with  the  immense  extension  of  the  ma-   The  revival 
terial  world,  effected  by  the  revival  of  town  life  and  the 
voyages  of  discovery,  went  an  enlargement  of  the  intel- 
lectual and  aesthetic  life  of  man,  brought  about  by  the  re- 


1 6  European  Society 

vival  of  learning  and  the  stimulation  of  the  arts.  This 
movement,  like  the  commercial  development  we  have  just 
followed,  had  its  origin  in  Italy,  for  Italy  was  in  all  respects 
in  the  van  of  civilization.  The  pioneer,  at  least  as  far  as 
Petrarch.  learning  is  concerned,  was  the  Florentine  Petrarch.      Pe- 

trarch, who  lived  in  the  fourteenth  century  (1304-74), 
was  not  only  a  great  Italian  poet,  author  of  the  immortal 
sonnets  addressed  to  Laura,  but  also  a  fervent  admirer  of 
the  literatures  of  Rome  and  Greece,  which  in  the  course  of 
the  Middle  Ages  had  been  largely  permitted  to  fall  into 
oblivion.  His  chief  aim  in  life  was  to  give  them  currency  once 
more,  and  before  he  died  he  had  communicated  his  passion 
to  many  others.  What  \\Titings  had  been  saved  from  the 
wreck  of  Roman  civilization  were  to  be  found  chiefly  in  the 
monasteries,  where  the  monks,  who  had  occupied  their 
leisure  with  copying  them,  had  established  the  only  libraries 
which  the  Middle  Ages  knew.  Among  the  dusty  shelves 
and  garrets  of  ancient  monastic  foundations  Petrarch  and 
his  followers  began  a  search  as  feverish  and  every  bit  as 
fruitful  for  humanity  as  the  explorations  of  the  Portuguese 
along  the  African  coast.  And  the  search  was  crowned  with 
success.  The  manuscript  copies  of  Virgil,  Ovid,  Plautus, 
and  Cicero  were  multiplied  by  scribes  and  read  with  fresher 
minds,  and  these  authors  again  began  to  shed  the  light  of 
their  wide  culture  upon  the  world.  The  discovery  and  com- 
munication of  the  Hellenic  genius,  as  exemplified  by  Homer, 
Sophocles,  and  Plato,  followed  in  due  course  of  time.  Be- 
fore the  end  of  the  Renaissance  practically  all  that  we  now 
know  of  Greek  and  Latin  literature  had  been  made  accessible 
to  man.  And  with  the  revival  of  ancient  literature  kept  pace 
a  passionate  interest  in  ancient  art.  Roman  buildings,  Greek 
and  Roman  statuary,  all  in  a  more  or  less  ruined  state,  were 
to  be  found  scattered  over  the  whole  surface  of  Italy.  Their 
enthusiastic  study  by  trained  artists  completed  the  work 


During  the  Renaissance  17 


begun  by  the  students  of  literature,  and  put  at  man's  dis- 
posal the  whole  range  of  ancient  civilization. 

Petrarch  and  the  generation  of  scholars  who  received  Humanists 
their  impulse  from  him  have  been  designated  by  the  col-  men. 
lective  term  of  humanists.  The  word  signifies  that  they 
stood  for  the  more  literary  range  of  studies  called  the 
humanities,  and  was  intended  to  convey  their  antagonism 
to  the  schoolmen,  who  championed  the  old-fashioned  cur- 
riculum pursued  in  the  schools  and  universities  in  the 
Middle  Ages.  This  curriculum  had  stamped  upon  it  a 
theological  character,  and  consisted  largely  of  exercises  in 
logic  and  dialectics,  which  might  give  the  mind  a  certain 
firmness,  but  did  not  increase  its  store  of  knowledge  or 
broaden  its  outlook.  These  very  important  objects,  how- 
ever, the  studies  championed  by  the  humanists,  and  in- 
volving an  acquaintance  with  the  free  and  splendid  civil- 
ization of  Rome  and  Athens,  accomplished,  and  thus 
tremendously  stimulated  that  curiosity  about  all  things  in 
heaven  and  earth  which  is  one  of  the  most  characteristic 
qualities  of  the  modern  mind. 

The  humanistic  faith,  with  its  object  of  enlarging  and  Humanism 
beautifying  life,  made  its  way  with  great  rapidity  in  the  courts  cities,  and 
of  princes,  in  merchant  circles,  and  among  the  universities,   "diversities 
Many  universities  had  been  founded  in  the  Middle  Ages  all 
over  Europe  for  the  specific  purpose  of  training  lawyers, 
physicians,    and    theologians.     The    university    of    Paris 
(founded  about  1207),  the  university  of  Bologna  (founded 
about   1088),   the   universities  of   Oxford  and   Cambridge 
(thirteenth  century)  are  among  the  most  famous.     Into  these 
and  many  others,  founded  at  a  later  time,  the  new  influence 
breathed  fresh  life,  with  the  result  that  while  they  continued 
to  prepare  for  the  learned  professions,  they  encouraged  the 
students  to  shake  off  the  prejudices  of  their  narrow  world 
and  poured  out  upon  them  a  more  gracious  spirit  of  living. 


of  the  classical 
past. 


1 8  European  "Society 

The  Fine  Arts  To  the  same  end  as  the  new  learning  contributed  in  per- 
by^heTtudy^  ^aps  even  a  higher  degree  the  bloom  of  the  Fine  Arts.  Sculpt- 
ure, painting,  and,  especially,  architecture  had  been  busily 
cultivated  since  the  revival  of  town  life,  and  reached  in 
the  thirteenth  century  a  monumental  climax  in  the  Gothic 
cathedral.  No  society  and  no  period  has  ever  raised  itself 
a  more  impressive  memorial.  Much  of  our  too  ready  con- 
tempt for  the  Middle  Ages  will  subside  if  we  pause  to  reflect 
that  the  great  Gothic  cathedrals  are  pure  mediaeval  products, 
developed  by  mediaeval  architects,  practically  without  help 
from  any  age.  Sculpture  and  painting,  too,  gave  expres- 
sion to  mediaeval  ideals,  but  in  a  halting  way  and  with  very 
deficient  equipment,  until  the  revival  of  learning  called  at- 
tention to  the  models  left  by  Rome  and  Greece.  Then  began 
a  passionate  study  of  antique  forms  and  presently  of  living 
men  and  women,  which  gave  these  arts  a  firm  footing  in  life 
itself.  It  was  in  Italy,  in  such  centres  as  Pisa  and  Flor- 
ence, that  the  arts  were  first  fructified  by  contact  with  the 
classic  genius,  and  though  the  revival  soon  spread  to  other 
countries,  Italy,  which  started  the  movement,  retained  its 
preeminence  for  many  generations.  Almost  every  city 
among  that  vivacious  people  developed  a  particular  school 
or  style  of  architecture,  sculpture,  and  painting.  A  mar- 
vellous wealth  and  diversity  of  production,  the  joy  of  every 
modern  student,  characterizes  the  period,  but  cannot  be  fol- 
lowed here.  Suffice  it  to  glance  at  the  single  case  of  Flor- 
ence. She  boasted  Brunellesco,  the  architect;  Donatello 
and  Michael  Angelo,  the  sculptors;  and  aside  from  Giotto 
(d.  1336),  who  still  moved  among  mediaeval  forms  and  con- 
ceptions, Masaccio,  Fra  Filippo  Lippi,  Botticelli,  and  Leo- 
nardo da  Vinci,  the  painters.  And  these  are  only  the  more 
conspicuous  names  of  the  great  galaxy  which  shed  its  splen- 
dor upon  the  Arno  city. 


During  the  Renaissance  19 


IV.  The  Return  to  Nature  and  the  Progress  of  Science  and 
Mechanical  Inventions. 

The  influences  already  enumerated — the  increasing  wealth  The  birth 
and  independence  of  the  burgher  class,  the  wider  outlook 
secured  by  the  discoveries,  the  new  ideas  derived  from 
Greece  and  Rome — revived  the  scientific  spirit,  which  means, 
in  essence,  the  desire  for  exact  information  about  the  world 
in  which  we  live.  Mediaeval  men  had  not  looked  about  in 
nature  with  open  or  very  curious  eyes,  and  had  been  con- 
tent to  accept  the  bookish  theories  of  the  universe  inculcated 
by  theology.  But  with  the  quickening  of  intelligence  men 
began  to  make  personal  observations  and  record  natural 
facts,  and  not  only  came  upon  much  that  was  at  variance 
with  the  teaching  of  the  Church,  but  upon  many  things  that 
were  entirely  new.  The  Portuguese  and  Spanish  voyages, 
besides  charting  hitherto  unknown  seas  and  coasts,  accumu- 
lated a  vast  heap  of  information  about  peoples,  languages, 
plants,  and  animals.  Such  studies  as  geography,  ethnol- 
ogy, botany,  and  astronomy  were  gradually  revolutionized. 
This  prolonged  and  vigorous  stimulation  of  thought  finally 
culminated  in  the  epoch-making  discovery  of  the  true  rela- 
tion of  our  world  to  the  other  heavenly  bodies.  Although 
the  theory  of  the  Greek  astronomer  Ptolemy  of  the  ro- 
tundity of  the  earth  was  never  entirely  forgotten,  mediaeval 
men  had  generally  held  that  the  earth  was  flat  and  was 
the  centre  of  the  universe.  Hardly  had  Columbus  and  his 
followers  proved  that  Ptolemy  was  right,  when  a  Polish 
astronomer,  Copernicus  (1473-1543),  took  another  forward  Copernicus 
step  by  establishing  that  our  earth  turned  on  its  axis  and  system, 
together  with  the  other  planets  revolved  around  the  sun. 

The  new  knowledge  of  nature  and  the  growing  acquaint-   inventions, 
ance   with   her  laws  greatly   stimulated  invention.     It  re- 
quires no  explanation  that  man  should  at  all  times  welcome 


20  European  Society 

the  simplification  of  a  recurring  task  by  means  of  some  me- 
chanical manipulation.  Even  savages  are  engaged  in  mak- 
ing inventions,  and  the  Middle  Ages  were  not  so  torpid  as 
not  to  show  this  inherent  tendency  of  our  race,  which  was 
naturally  stirred  into  a  heightened  activity  with  the  advent 
of  the  Renaissance.  Let  us  enumerate  some  of  these  in- 
ventions, noting  briefly  how  they  made  life  less  of  a  burden 
and  more  of  a  pleasure,  and  man  himself  a  more  effective 
master  of  his  environment.  The  compass — probably  bor- 
rowed from  the  Chinese — came  into  general  use  among 
mariners,  and  took  much  of  the  terror  from  the  trackless 
seas;  a  method  of  musical  notation,  which  has  secured  the 
systematic  development  of  the  art  of  music,  was  devised, 
probably  in  Italy;  in  the  Netherlands  a  body  of  artists,  and 
notably  Jan  van  Eyck,  developed  a  durable  method  of  paint- 
ing by  dissolving  the  color  pigments  in  oil;  and  paper  made 
from  the  pulp  of  rice  straw,  linen,  and  the  inner  bark  of  trees 
replaced  the  much  more  expensive  parchment  prepared  from 
the  hides  of  animals.  Particularly  important  was  the  in- 
vention of  gunpowder  and  printing,  for  they  proved  revolu- 
tionary agencies  of  the  first  magnitude.  This  deserves  to 
be  set  forth  more  explicitly. 
Gunpowder  If  the  Middle  Ages  were  completely  dominated  by  the 

an  printing.  {^^^^^  lords,  it  was  largely  because  the  landholding  gentry, 
clad  in  armor  and  mounted  on  horseback,  constituted  the 
military  force.  The  peasants,  fighting  on  foot,  armed  some- 
times only  with  scythes  and  clubs,  were  no  match  for  them. 
With  the  invention  of  gunpowder — it  came  into  gradual  use 
during  the  fourteenth  century — a  weapon  was  put  into  the 
hands  of  the  infantry  which,  coupled  with  improvements  in 
drill  and  discipline,  made  them  more  than  a  match  for  the 
highborn  cavaliers,  while  the  use  of  artillery  destroyed  the 
impregnability  of  the  moated  castles  from  behind  which  theii; 
owners  had  defied  society  and  its  laws.     And  just  as  gunpow- 


During  the  Renaissajice  21 


der  impaired  the  military  prestige  of  the  nobiUty,  so  printing 
put  an  end  to  the  intellectual  monopoly  of  the  upper  orders 
and,  above  all,  the  clergy.  The  invention  of  this  art  is  gen- 
erally ascribed  to  John  Gutenberg  of  the  city  of  Mainz,  whose 
first  book  printed  with  movable  types  appeared  about  1450. 
So  long  as  learning  and  literature  could  be  acquired  only  from 
hand-copied  parchments,  they  were  beyond  the  reach  of  all 
except  the  nobles  and  the  rich  corporations  of  the  Church. 
Printing  with  movable  types  and  on  paper  immensely  cheap- 
ened the  manufacture  of  books,  and  put  them  within  the 
means  of  the  middle  classes.  Merchants  began  to  acquire 
libraries,  reading  became  more  general,  knowledge  more 
diffused.  Thus  gunpowder  and  printing  tended  to  close  the 
gap  between  lords  and  commoners,  and  contributed  power- 
fully to  the  gradual  democratization  of  society. 

V .  The  Development  0]  Individuality. 

In  this  enumeration  of  new  interests  and  activities  little   In  the 
has  yet  been  said  as  to  how  they  affected  the  point  of  view   man  is 
from  which  men  looked  at  themselves  and  the  world.     We  'o  the'^'roup^ 
have  agreed  that  the  Renaissance  created  the  modern  man, 
but  something  remains  to  be  said  as  to  how  he  differs  from 
his    mediaeval    ancestor.     The    mediaeval    European    lived 
among  rude,  agricultural  conditions,  where  thought  was  lit- 
tle stimulated  and  had  consequently  fallen  into  stereotyped 
forms.     Society  was  stamped  with  the  principle  of  caste. 
Every  man  was  associated  with  a  particular  class,  and  un- 
hesitatingly accepted  its  conditions;  he  was  a  cleric,  a  noble- 
man, a  peasant,  a  citizen,  and  within  his  city  the  member 
of  a  guild.     His  rights  and  obligations,  his  manners,  and 
even  his  dress  derived  from  the  grouf>  to  which  he  belonged. 

Now  the  Renaissance  broke  up  the  group  bv  endowing   I" 'he 

.  .       .  Renaissance 

man  with  an  expanding  individuality,  which  made  him  im-   maniseman- 
patient  with  the  trammels  imposed  by  his  class.     Business  the  group."'" 


22  European  Society 

enterprise  and  travel  made  him  self-reliant;  the  new  learning, 
the  new  science  supplied  him  witb  an  immense  number  of 
new  facts;  he  developed  the  faculty  of  criticism  and  applied 
it  to  the  state,  to  art,  to  his  fellow-man,  even  to  the  Church. 
Sustained,  enlarged,  exalted,  he  ventured  forth  from  the 
shelter  of  the  group,  and  proclaimed  the  right  of  every  man 
to  shape  his  fortune  by  his  individual  efforts.  The  eman« 
cipated  man,  emancipated  from  the  group  and  class  idea, 
emancipated  from  a  narrow  code  of  conduct,  emancipated 
from  abstruse,  theological  learning,  is  the  most  splendid 
flower  of  the  Renaissance. 
Self-develop-  Individuality,  the  vigorous  consciousness  of  the  joys,  the 

universal  man.  sorrows,  the  power,  the  resources  of  self,  became  the  passion 
of  the  day.  In  their  extravagant  reaction  against  the  re- 
straints imposed  by  superstition,  men  came  to  hold  that  the 
individual  was  justified  in  breaking  through  every  barrier 
which  stood  in  the  way  of  his  development.  Perhaps  no 
age  has  produced  so  many  remarkable  men  and  women. 
But  the  excess  of  freedom  frequently  led  to  license,  espe- 
cially in  Italy,  and  in  that  country,  by  the  side  of  the  many 
great  men,  such  as  Petrarch  and  Columbus,  lived  some  of 
the  supreme  villains  of  history,  like  Alexander  VI.  and  his 
son,  Caesar  Borgia.  But  even  the  crimes  of  a  Borgia  escape 
comparison  with  vulgar  offences  by  reason  of  their  imposing 
audacity.  With  perfect  logic  this  belief  in  the  unlimited  rights 
and  powers  of  the  ego  led  to  the  concept  of  the  universal  man^ 
He  was  the  happy  individual  who  by  consistent  self-devel- 
opment  made  himself  lord  of  all  science  and  skill — a  god. 
We  smile  at  such  presumption  now.  But  it  is  astonishing 
how  near  the  Renaissance  came  toward  achieving  its  ideal. 
Look  at  Leonardo  da  Vinci  and  Michael  Angelo,  who  prac- 
tised painting,  sculpture,  architecture,  and  engineering.  To 
make  the  measure  full,  Michael  Angelo  was  a  poet.  Sub- 
sequent generations  of  men  have  moderated  their  ambition, 


During  the  Renaissance  23 

but  it  is  undeniable  that  the  Renaissance  ideal  of  universal 
culture  has  greatly  influenced  the  whole  modern  age. 
Shakespeare  and  Goethe  are  later  manifestations  of  it. 

VI.  The  Political  Evolution. 

I  have  already  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  land,  The  mediaeval 
and  with  the  land  the_£olitical_authority,  was  iidd  in^the  monarchy. 
Middle  Ages  by  the  feudal  barons.  It  js  true  that  the  sjates 
oiJEurope  were  orojanized  as  monarchies,  buj--th©-^Renarchs 
w£re  largely  under  the  control  of  their  barons,  who  met  in 
diets  or  parliaments  and  discussed  peace  and  war  and  the 
Qtherbusmess  of  the  realm.  The  period  tells  of  many  kings 
who  were  violent  and_arbitrary,  b^it-oi  none  who  were  abso- 
lute in  the  sense  that  they  were  the  sole  source  of  authority. 
In  short,  the  mediaeval_governments  were  oligarchies  rather 
than  absohitisms. 

Now  the  agents  to  which  we  have  given  ovur  attention —  Growing 
the  dfi^'elopmenLoLindustry,  the-reyival  of  learning,  the  in-  pOTtance'of' 
ventions — threatened  and  undermined  this  predominance  of 
the  nobles.  The  cities  m  particular  profited  by  the  new  in- 
fluences, and,  tired  at  last  of  being  choked  and  hampered  by 
their  lords,  won  self-government.  We  have  referred  to  their 
victory,  which  must  not,  however,  be  understood  to  have 
terminated  the  strife.  Outside  the  walls,  in  the  country- 
side, the  struggle  between  the  two  hostile  classes  was  bound 
to  continue  as  long  as  the  barons  commanded  the  trade 
routes,  which  were  the  very  arteries  of  town  life.  But  in 
this  pass  the  cities  won  an  ally,  who  was  none  other  than 
the  king;  for  the  king,  too,  hated  the  nobility,  whose  lust 
of  power  had  kept  him  in  dependence  on  them.  The  king 
could  see,  what  was  clear  as  day,  that  to  strengthen  the  cities 
was  to  advance  his.  own  cause.  He  therefore  not  only  helped 
them  obtain  their  charters  of  liberty,  but  also  favored  their 
admission  to  representation  in  the  national  councils.     As 


the  cities. 


24  European  Society 

early  as  1169  we  find  representatives  of  the  cities  sitting  in 
the  Cortes  of  Castile;  in  1295  the  burgesses  or  commoners 
were  definitely  admitted  to  the  English  Parliament;  in  the 
fourteenth  century  they  were  associated  as  a  third  estate 
with  the  National  Assembly  of  France;  and  in  the  fifteenth 
century  they  became  a  house  of  the  German  Diet. 
Growth  of  Thus  everywhere  may  be  observed  the  mounting  impor- 

tance of  the  cities.  But  every  forward  step  they  took  meant 
a  new  loss  for  the  nobility  and  by  implication  a  new  gain  for 
the  burghers'  ally,  the  king.  His  power  grew  by  leaps  and 
bounds,  until  it  became  his  ambition  to  free  himself  from 
every  check.  We  shall  see  all  sixteenth-century  kings  striv- 
ing toward  this  goal,  and  we  shall  be  obliged  to  acknowledge 
that  this  movement  toward  absolutism  was,  on  the  whole, 
beneficial  to  civilization,  since  only  in  this  way  could  the 
feudal  nobility  be  crushed,  and  the  sharply  separated  classes 
of  nobles,  clergy,  burghers,  artisans,  and  peasants  be  welded 
into  a  single  people.  The  kings  supposed  they  were  building 
only  for  themselves,  but  the  subsequent  development  showed 
that  they  were  really  working  in  the  interests  of  the  nation. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   EUROPEAN    STATES   AT   THE    BEGINNING    OF   THE 
MODERN    PERIOD 

The  Empire. 

References:  Lodge,  Close  of  the  Middle  Ages,  Chapter 
XVII.;  Bryce,  The  Holy  Roman  Empire,  Chapter 
XVII.;  Henderson,  A  Short  History  of  Germany,  Vol. 
I.,  Chapters  VII.,  X.;  The  Cambridge  Modern  His- 
tory, Vol.  I.,  Chapter  IX. 


The  Roman  Empire,  which  at  the  birth  of  Christ  em-  Decay  of  the 
braced  the  whole  civilized  world,  had  lost  its  hold  upon  Empire^™^" 
western  Europe  after  the  Teutonic  migrations.  However, 
on  Christmas  Day,  800  A.D.,  Charlemagne,  king  of  the  most 
powerful  of  the  Teutonic  tribes,  the  Franks,  took  the  title 
Roman  Emperor,  and  thus  revived  the  traditions  of  the  Em- 
pire in  the  west.  Since  the  resuscitated  Empire  was  dedi- 
cated to  the  advance  of  religion  and  closely  leagued  with  the 
Church,  it  was  presently  designated  as  Holy.  The  struggle 
and  decay  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  is  one  of  the  main 
themes  of  mediaeval  history.  It  consistently  lost  ground, 
both  as  against  the  Church  and  the  subject-nationalities 
which  it  embraced,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  Modern  Pe- 
riod had  been  practically  reduced  to  the  national  state  of 
Germany.  By  the  year  1500,  therefore,  the  words  Empire 
and  Gcrmanv  have,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  become  in- 
terchangeable terms. 

35 


26 


The  European  States 


The  Consti- 
tution of 
Germany. 


The  seven 
electors. 


Growing 
weakness  of 
the  central 
authorities. 


At  the  opening  of  the  Modern  Period  Maximilian  I. 
(1493-15 19)  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg  was  the  head  of 
the  Holy  Roman  Empire.  The  family  of  Hapsburg  had 
grown  so  powerful  in  the  fifteenth  century  that  the  German 
crown  had  almost  become  its  hereditary  possession.  Theo- 
retically, however,  the  crown  was  still  elective.  On  the 
death  of  an  emperor  a  successor  could  be  legally  chosen  only 
by  the  seven  electors,  who  were  the  seven  greatest  princes  of 
the  realm.  Of  these  seven  electors  three  were  ecclesiastical 
dignitaries  and  four  were  lay  princes.  The  seven  were: 
the  archbishops  of  Mainz,  Cologne,  and  Trier  (Treves), 
the  king  of  Bohemia,  the  duke  of  Saxony,  the  margrave  of 
Brandenburg,  and  the  count  palatine  of  the  Rhine.  The 
seven  electors,  the  lesser  princes  (including  the  higher  ec- 
clesiastical dignitaries,  such  as  bishops  and  abbots),  and 
the  free  cities,  meeting  as  three  separate  houses,  composed 
the  imperial  Diet.  This  Diet  was  the  legislative  body  of  the 
Empire,  and  its  consent  was  necessary  to  every  important 
act.  Emperor  and  Diet  together  constituted  the  imperial 
government,  if  machinery  as  rusty  as  that  of  the  Empire 
had  come  to  be  may  be  given  that  name.  In  fact,  the 
national  government  of  Germany  was  little  more  than  a 
glorious  memory.  Germany  had  not,  like  France,  England, 
and  Spain,  advanced  in  the  later  Middle  Ages  toward  na- 
tional unity,  but  had  steadily  travelled  in  the  opposite  di- 
rection toward  complete  disintegration.  The  princes,  mar- 
graves, counts,  prince-bishops,  and  free  cities,  constituting 
the  so-called  "estates"  of  the  mediaeval  feudal  realm,  were 
about  three  hundred  in  number.  Some,  like  the  seven 
electors,  held  territory  large  enough  to  command  respect; 
others  controlled  at  most  a  few  square  miles.  Selfishly 
zealous  to  increase  their  local  rights,  they  had  acquired  a 
constantly  increasing  independence  of  the  central  power, 
and  had  reduced  the  emperor  to  a  puppet.     It  was  plain  that 


At  the  Beginning  of  the  Modern  Period      27 

if  matters  continued  as  in  the  past,  even  the  name  of  unity 
would  presently  vanish,  and  Germany  would  be  broken  up 
into  three  hundred  independent  states. 

The  greatest  interest  attaching  to  Maximilian's  reign  is  The  attempted 
connected  with  the  circumstance  that  under  him  the  last  Maximilian. 
serious  attempt  was  made  to  reinvigorate  the  imperial 
government.  In  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century 
something  like  a  wave  of  national  enthusiasm  swept  over 
Germany.  Voices  were  raised  throughout  the  land  for 
reform,  and  encouraged  by  these  manifestations  Maximilian 
and  his  Diet  approached  the  task  of  national  reorganization. 
Beginning  with  1495  a  number  of  Diets  met  and  discussed 
the  measures  to  be  taken.  The  result  was  a  miserable 
disappointment,  for  what  was  done  did  not  strengthen  ma- 
terially the  central  authority,  the  emperor,  but  was  limited 
to  the  internal  security  of  the  realm.  The  right  of  private  Abolition  of 
warfare,  the  most  insufferable  survival  of  feudal  times,  was  wlrfa're!''^'^^ 
abolished,  and  a  perpetual  peace  (ewiger  Landfrieden) 
proclaimed.  To  enforce  this  peace  there  was  instituted  a 
special  court  of  justice,  the  Imperial  Chamber  (Reichs-  The  Imperial 
kammergericht),  to  which  all  conflicts  between  the  estates  of 
the  realm  had  to  be  referred.  Later,  in  order  to  insure  the 
execution  of  the  verdicts  of  the  Imperial  Chamber  and  for 
the  greater  safety  of  the  realm  against  external  and  internal 
foes,  the  Empire  was  divided  into  ten  administrative  dis- 
tricts. This  is  the  largest  measure  of  reform  which  the  local 
governments  in  control  of  the  Diet  would,  out  of  jealousy 
of  the  central  government,  concede.  The  emperor  was  left, 
as  before,  without  an  income,  without  an  administration, 
and  without  an  army.  Lacking  these  he  could  not  enforce 
the  decrees  of  the  Diet  or  of  the  Imperial  Chamber,  and 
was  no  better  than  a  graven  image,  draped,  for  merely 
scenic  purposes,  in  the  mantle  of  royalty.  If  we  hear  of 
powerful  emperors  in  the  future  (Charles  V.,  for  instance), 


28 


The  European  States 


The  Hapsburg 
marriages. 


The  dominion 
of  Charles  V. 


we  shall  discover  that  they  owed  their  power,  not  to  the 
Empire,  but  always  to  the  strength  which  they  derived 
from  their]  hereditary  lands.  In  their  hereditary  lands  they 
were,  what  they  could  never  be  in  the  Empire,  effective 
masters. 

Maximilian,  who  fell  under  the  spell  of  the  new  culture 
influences  of  the  Renaissance,  was  a  strange  mixture  of  mod- 
ern and  mediaeval  elements.  He  was  much  buffeted  about 
by  fortune,  largely  because  he  was  simple-hearted  enough 
to  take  the  Empire  and  its  threadbare  splendors  seriously. 
He  tried  to  make  good  the  ancient  imperial  claims  to  parts 
of  Italy,  and  met  with  defeat  and  derision;  he  tried  to  unite 
Europe  against  the  Turks,  who  had  overrun  the  east  and 
were  moving  westward  up  the  Danube,  but  he  could  not 
even  influence  his  own  Germans  to  a  national  war  of  de- 
fence. However,  a  number  of  lucky  matrimonial  alliances 
compensated  Maximilian  for  his  many  political  disappoint- 
ments. In  the  year  1477  he  married  Mary  of  Burgundy, 
the  only  child  of  Charles  the  Bold  and  heiress  of  the  Nether- 
lands; and  in  1496  his  son  Philip  was  united  to  Joan  of  Cas- 
tile, daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  and  heir-apparent 
to  the  crown  of  Spain.  As  Philip  died  in  1506  and  Joan 
shortly  after  became  insane,  their  son  Charles  was  pro- 
claimed, first,  sovereign  of  the  Netherlands,  and  later,  on  the 
death  of  Ferdinand  (15 16),  king  of  Spain.  Finally,  when 
the  Emperor  Maximilian  died  (15 19),  Charles  fell  heir  also 
to  the  Austrian  lands,  and  soon  after  was  elected  to  succeed 
his  grandfather  in  the  Empire.  The  new  emperor  adopted 
the  title  of  Charles  V.^  To  recount  his  astonishing  position: 
he  was  lord  of  the  Netherlands,  king  of  Spain  and  her  de- 
pendencies in  Europe  and  beycnd  the  seas,  archduke  of 
Austria — all  this  in  his  own  right — whereto  had  been  added 


'  As  king  of  Spain  he  is  Charles  I.     For  his  descent  see  Genealogical 
Tables  I.  and  II. 


At  the  Beginning  of  the  Modern  Period       29 

by  election  the  crown  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire.  Un- 
luckily for  Charles  V.  there  had,  just  before  Maximilian's 
death,  broken  out  the  great  Church  schism,  called  the  Ref- 
ormation. Little  as  Charles  suspected  it  at  first,  the  Refor- 
mation was  destined  to  become  the  most  significant  event  of 
his  reign. 

Italy. 

References:  Symonds,  Renaissance  in  Italy,  especially  the 
volume  entitled  Age  of  the  Despots;  Ewart,  Cosimo 
de'  Medici;  Armstrong,  Lorenzo  de'  Medici;  Villari, 
Life  and  Times  of  Savonarola;  Villari,  Life  and  Times 
of  Machiavelli;  Horatio  F.  Brown,  Venice;  Cam- 
bridge Modern  History,  Vol.  I.,  Chapter  IV.  (inva- 
sions of  Italy),  V.  and  VI.  (Florence),  VII.  (Rome), 
VIII.  (Venice). 

Italy  at  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages  had  fallen  into  worse  The  five 
confusion  than  Germany,  for  the  country  possessed  not  even  ^^^'^"S  states, 
that  semblance  of  national  unity,  still  maintained  in  Germany. 
There  were  in  the  peninsula  five  leading  states:  the  duchy  of 
Milan,  the  republic  of  Venice,  the  republic  of  Florence,  the 
states  of  the  Church,  and  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  The 
numerous  small  states,  like  Savoy  and  Ferrara,  were  too 
inconsiderable  to  play  much  of  a  political  role. 

During  the  fifteenth  century  the  five  leading  states  had  Spain  and 
been  constantly  engaged  in  wars  among  themselves.     These  fomeTnt^rest- 
wars  did  no  great  harm  until  it  occurred  to  the  kings  of  Spain  ^^'"  ^'^'y- 
and  France  to  turn  the  local  divisions  of  Italy  to  their  per- 
sonal advantage.     Spain,  or  rather  Aragon,  at  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century  already  possessed  the  islands  of  Sardinia 
and  Sicily,  and  its  royal  house  was  closely  related  to  the 
ruling  family  of  Naples.     Through  these  connections  Spain 
acquired  an  active  interest  in  Italian  affairs.     Unfortunately 
for  Italy,  France  also  became  interested  in  Italian  affairs 
when  in  1481  the  last  member  of  the  House  of  Anjou  died, 


30 


The  European  States 


Charles  VIII. 
of  France 
invades 
Italy,  1494- 


Naples  ac- 
quired by 
Spain,  1 504. 


Struggle  be- 
tween France 
and  Spain  for 
the  posses- 
sion of  Milan. 


leaving  all  his  possessions  and  claims  to  his  near  relative, 
the  king  of  France.  Among  the  claims  was  one  to  the 
kingdom  of  Naples,  handed  down  from  an  earlier  representa- 
tive of  the  line.  Charles  VIII.  of  France  resolved  on  his 
accession  to  power  to  make  good  this  claim  upon  Naples  by 
force,  and  in  1494  he  made  his  famous  invasion  of  Italy. 
It  was  the  first  foreign  interference  in  the  affairs  of  the 
peninsula  since  the  beginning  of  the  Renaissance,  and  be- 
came the  prelude  to  Italy's  decay  and  enslavement.  Spain, 
unwilling  to  permit  the  extension  of  France,  looked  upon 
Charles's  step  as  a  challenge,  and  inaugurated  a  struggle 
for  the  possession  of  Italy  which  lasted  for  over  fifty  years 
and  ended  in  her  complete  victory.  At  the  beginning  of  our 
period  this  result  was  not  yet  apparent.  But  within  a  few 
years  after  the  outbreak  of  the  French-Spanish  wars  the 
states  of  Italy,  overrun  and  plundered  by  superior  forces, 
commenced  to  exhibit  material  alterations  in  their  political 
status.     Let  us  take  a  closer  view  of  these  Italian  states. 

Naples. — If  Naples,  as  it  was  the  first,  had  remained  the 
only,  source  of  quarrel  between  France  and  Spain,  peace 
might  soon  have  been  reestablished.  For,  after  having  been 
traversed  again  and  again  by  French  and  Spanish  troops, 
the  kingdom  of  Naples  was  definitely  ceded  by  France  to 
Spain  (1504).  As  the  southern  part  of  the  Italian  mainland 
had  for  some  time  been  designated  in  current  use  as  Sicily, 
Ferdinand  of  Aragon,  already  lord  of  the  island  of  Sicily, 
henceforth  adopted  the  style  of  king  of  The  Two  Sicilies. 
Unfortunately,  a  second  bone  of  contention  between  the 
two  great  western  monarchies  was  found  in  the  duchy  of 
Milan. 

Milan. — The  duchy  of  Milan  was  legally  a  fief  of  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire,  but  was  held  at  this  time  in  practically 
independent  possession  by  the  family  of  a  successful  military 
adventurer  of  the  name  of  Sforza.     When  Charles  VIII.  of 


ITALY 

IN  TIIK 
RENAISSANCE 


SCALE    OF  MILES 
r,ll  Kill  150  200 


THE  MATTHEW8-N0HTHBUP  WORKS,  BUFFALO,  N.Y.  ITi 


At  the  Begirming  of  the  Modern  Period       31 

France  died  in  1498  Louis  XII.,  his  successor,  remembered 
that  he  was  a  descendant,  in  the  female  Hne,  of  a  family,  the 
Visconti,  who  had  ruled  in  Milan  before  the  Sforza  family  had 
become  established.  On  the  strength  of  this  vague  priority 
Louis  resolved  to  supplant  the  Sforza  upstart.  Having  Louis  XII. 
invaded  and  conquered  Milan  in  1499,  he  held  that  city  MilanrAgq. 
successfully  until  there  was  formed  against  him  the  Holy 
League,  composed  of  the  Pope,  Venice,  Spain,  and  England 
(1512).  The  Holy  League  quickly  succeeded  in  driving  the 
French  out  of  Italy  and  in  reinstating  the  Sforza  family  in 
their  duchy.  Louis  XII.  died  in  1515  without  having  re- 
conquered Milan,  but  his  successor,  Francis  I.,  immediately 
upon  his  accession  marched  his  army  off  to  Italy.  Charles 
VIII.  had  taken  Naples  and  lost  it  again,  Louis  XII.  had 
seized  Milan  only  to  be  dispossessed,  and  now  Francis  I.,  as 
brimming  with  ambition  as  his  predecessors,  made  a  third 
assault  on  the  peninsula.  A  brilliant  victory  at  Marignano  Francis  I. 
(1515),  which  delivered  Milan  into  his  hands,  seemed  to  jus-  que'rs Milan, 
tify  his  step.  For  a  short  time  now  there  was  peace  between  ^^is- 
France  and  Spain;  but  naturally  the  Spaniards  saw  with 
envy  the  extension  of  French  influence  over  the  north  of 
Italy,  and  when  Charles,  king  of  Spain,  was  elected  emperor 
in  1 5 19  the  necessary  pretext  for  renewing  the  war  with 
France  was  given  into  their  hands.  It  has  already  been  said 
that  Milan  was  legally  a  fief  of  the  Empire.  In  his  capacity 
of  emperor,  Charles  could  find  a  ready  justification  for  inter- 
fering in  the  affairs  of  his  dependency.  Immediately  upon 
his  election  he  resolved  to  challenge  the  right  of  the  French 
to  Milan,  and  so  the  French-Spanish  wars  in  Italy  were 
renewed. 

Venice. — In  the  fifteenth  centur}'  Venice  was  the  strongest  The  splendid 
of  all  the  Italian  states.     She  called  herself  a  republic,  but   Venice!"  °^ 
was  more  truly  an  oligarchy,  the  power  lying  in  the  hands 
of  the  nobles,  who  composed  the  Great  Council,  controlled 


32  The  Etiropean  States 

the  administration,  and  elected  the  chief  dignitary,  the  doge 
or  duke.  The  power  of  Venice  was  due  to  her  immense 
trade  and  possessions  in  the  eastern  Mediterranean.  The 
Crusades  had  opened  her  eyes  to  the  resources  of  this  region, 
and  she  had  gradually  taken  possession  of  the  Morea  (Pelo- 
ponnesus), Candia,  Cyprus,  and  most  of  the  islands  of  the 
iEgean  and  Ionian  seas.  In  addition  to  these  colonial  terri- 
tories she  held  the  whole  northeastern  portion  of  Italy. 
The  decay  The  Renaissance  is  the  period  of  Venetian  glory;  at  the 

beginning  of  the  Modern  Period  that  glory  was  already 
rapidly  waning.  The  first  check  to  the  continued  pros- 
perity of  Venice  was  given  by  the  Turks.  Having  begun 
their  irresistible  march  through  western  Asia  and  eastern 
Europe,  they  wrenched  from  Venice,  bit  by  bit,  her  Oriental 
trade  and  possessions.  The  second  misfortune  which  befell 
the  city  of  the  lagoons  was  the  discovery  by  Vasco  da  Gama 
of  the  sea-passage  to  India  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
This  discovery,  by  drawing  off  the  Oriental  commerce  to 
the  states  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  struck  a  fatal  blow  at 
Venetian  prosperity.  And  to  these  reverses  in  the  east  were 
added  disasters  in  the  west.  Partly  owing  to  her  wealth, 
partly  owing  to  her  selfish  policy,  Venice  had  aroused  the 
jealousy  and  hatred  of  her  many  neighbors,  who  finally 
agreed  to  lower  her  pride.  In  1 508  the  emperor,  the  Pope, 
France,  and  Spain,  formed  against  her  the  formidable 
League  of  Cambray.  Although  she  managed  by  timely 
concessions  to  save  herself  from  the  noose  which  had  been 
flung  about  her  neck,  she  never  again  recovered  her  former 
prestige.  She  declined  gradually  during  the  whole  Modern 
Period,  but  even  in  her  decay  remained  one  of  the  main 
bulwarks  of  Europe  against  the  encroachments  of  the  Turks. 
Finally,  Napoleon  made  an  end  of  her  existence  as  an  in- 
dependent state  in  the  year  1797. 

Florence. — The  republic  of  Florence,  far-famed  in  the 


At  the  Beginning  of  the  Modern  Period      33 

period  of  the  Renaissance  for  its  great  artists  and  writers, 
had  in  the  fifteenth  century  fallen  under  the  domination  of 
a  native  family,  the  Medici  (Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  the 
greatest  of  the  line,  ruled  from  1469  to  1492).  The  Medici  Florence  sub- 
did  not  greatly  alter  the  republican  forms,  but  by  means  of  a  Medici. 
clever  political  "ring"  controlled  the  public  offices.  Against 
this  concealed  tyranny  the  people  continued  to  protest  in 
their  hearts.  When,  therefore,  the  invasion  of  Charles  VIII. 
(1494)  offered  a  chance  to  cast  off  the  Medicean  yoke,  the 
people  rose,  banished  their  tyrants,  and  reestablished  the  re- 
public. Girolamo  Savonarola,  a  pure-minded,  resolute,  and  Savonarola, 
devoted  Dominican  friar,  who  had  through  his  stirring  invec- 
tives against  the  general  corruption  of  manners  acquired  a 
great  following,  became  the  popular  hero  and  leader.  For 
four  years  he  exercised  great  influence  in  the  government  and 
labored  ceaselessly  at  the  reform  of  the  morals  of  his  way- 
ward flock.  During  the  period  of  Savonarola's  supremacy 
Florence  presented  to  her  astonished  contemporaries,  who 
dwelt  upon  the  free  heights  of  the  pagan  Renaissance,  the 
picture  of  a  city  dominated  by  a  priestly  faction.  But  in 
1498  Savonarola's  enemies  compassed  his  overthrow  and 
burned  him  at  the  stake.  For  a  few  more  years  the  republic 
went  on  as  best  it  could,  until  in  15 12  the  Medici  reconquered  The  return  of 
the  city.  In  1527  the  Florentines  made  a  second  and  last  at- 
tempt to  regain  their  liberties.  Again  they  cast  the  Medici 
out,  but  again  the  banished  princes  returned,  this  time  (1529) 
with  the  help  of  Charles  V.,  who  now  honored  the  head  of  the 
Medicean  House,  Alexander,  by  conferring  upon  him  and 
his  heirs  Florence  and  her  territory,  under  the  name  of  the 
duchy  (later  the  grand  duchy)  of  Tuscany.  Thus  by  a  pol- 
icy of  sly  and  persistent  encroachment  the  Medici  became  the 
hereditary  rulers  of  their  native  city. 

The  States  of  the  Church. — During  the  period  of  the 
Renaissance  the  Popes,  influenced  by  pagan  ideas  like  the 


34 


The  European  States 


1  he  states  of 
the  Church 
once  more 
subjugated  to 
tbeFope. 


The  Borgias. 


Julius  II. 
and  Leo  X. 
make  Rome 
the  artistic 
centre  of 
Italy. 


rest  of  the  world,  inclined  to  sacrifice  the  principles  of 
Christian  faith  and  morality  to  the  desire  of  being  brilliant 
secular  princes.  Their  dominant  aspiration  was  to  recover 
their  lost  control  of  the  territory  of  the  Church.  This  ter- 
ritor)',  running  across  the  middle  of  the  peninsula,  formed 
an  extensive  possession,  but  had  unfortunately  fallen  in  large 
part  into  the  hands  of  petty  tyrants.  Pope  Alexander  VI. 
(1492-1503),  of  the  Spanish  family  of  Borgia,  infamous 
for  his  murders  and  excesses,  may  largely  take  the  credit 
to  himself  of  having  carried  the  papal  policy  to  a  successful 
issue.  Through  the  unscrupulous  agency  of  his  son,  Cassar 
Borgia,  the  petty  tyrants  of  the  papal  states  were  got  rid  of, 
frequently  by  poison  and  assassination.  The  successor  of 
Alexander  VI.,  the  mighty  Julius  II.,  completed  Caesar's 
work,  and  made  the  Pope  absolute  master  in  his  dominions. 

Julius  II.  (1503-13)  and  his  successor,  LeoX.  (1513-21), 
are  excellent  examples  of  the  Renaissance  type  of  Pope. 
They  showed  no  trace  of  mediaeval  austerity,  or  even  of  re- 
ligious fervor;  they  looked  upon  th«ir  ofl&ce  as  an  unequalled 
opportunity  for  exercising  authority  and  commanding  the 
pleasures  of  the  earth;  and  while  they  were  ambitious,  sen- 
sual, splendid,  they  responded  also  to  the  refined  influences  of  - 
the  day.  Both  of  them  will  always  be  remembered  for  their 
enthusiastic  patronage  of  the  arts,  which  made  Rome,  in  their 
time  and  largely  through  their  efforts,  the  artistic  centre  of 
Italy.  It  was  during  the  Papacy  of  Leo  X.,  who  was  a  member 
of  the  famous  Florentine  family  of  the  Medici,  and  whose  in- 
terests were  literary,  artistic,  social,  in  short,  everything  b'Jt 
religious,  that  there  was  raised  in  Germany  the  cry  for  reform 
which  led  to  the  Protestant  schism.  Lutlier  wrestling  with 
himself  in  the  solitude  of  his  cell  and  Leo  feasting  among  pi- 
pers and  buffoons  make  one  of  the  notable  contrasts  of  history. 

Savoy. — In  northwestern  Italy,  on  the  border  of  France, 
lay,  among  the  snows  of  the  Alps,  the  duchy  of  Savoy.    At 


At  the  Beginning  of  the  Modern  Period       35 


the  beginning  of  the  Modern  Period  the  duke  of  Savoy  was 
not  3'et  an  influential  potentate,  but  he  sat  at  the  passes  of 
the  Alps,  which  he  could  open  and  shut,  like  a  doorkeeper, 
at  his  pleasure  or — for  a  consideration.  This  advantage  of 
position  he  made  shrewd  use  of,  with  the  result  that  during 
[he  next  centuries  he  waxed  bigger  and  bigger,  until  finally 
his  power  surpassed  that  of  any  other  prince  of  Italy.  In 
the  nineteenth  century  his  house  attained  its  final  success 
in  being  called  to  reign  over  united  Italy. 

France. 

References:  Kitchin,  History  of  France,  Vol.  II.;  Cam- 
bridge Modern  History,  Vol.  I.,  Chapter  XII. 

In  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  under  Charles  The  unifica- 
VII.  (1422-61)  and  Louis  XI.  (1461-83),  France  lost  much  tionofFrance 
of  her  medieval  and  feudal  character  and  assumed  the  form 
of  an  absolute  monarchy.     The  great  fiefs,  through  the  ex- 
tinction of  the  local  reigning  families,  had  largely  come  back 
into  the  hands  of  the  king,  and  instead  of  giving  them  again 
to  dukes  and  counts  as  hereditary  possessions,  he  kept  them 
for  himself,  ruling  them  through  governors  with  revocable 
powers.     He  had  also  secured  a  national  revenue  by  means 
of  a  land-tax  called  taUle,  of  which  he  had  free  disposal;  The tajlle 
and  he  had  created  a  standing  army  which  was  in  his  pay  fng^mf. 
and  rendered  him  independent  of  the  ancient  levy  of  the 
nobles.     The  reign  of  Louis  XI.  was  rendered  particularly 
noteworthy  by  the  resumption  of  the  great  fiefs  of  Provence 
and  Burgundy  on  the  death  of  the  last  male  heirs  of  these 
provinces.     Under  Louis's  son,  Charles  VIII.   (1483-98), 
fortune  continued  to  smile  upon  the  royal  house,  for  by  his 
marriage  with  the  heiress  of  Brittany  Charles  secured  the 
great  fief  in  the  northwest  for  his  family,  and  practically 
completed  the  unification  of  France^ 


36 


The  European  States 


The  Estates 
General  and 
Parliaments 
as  checks  upon 
the  king. 


French  am- 
bition turns 
toWcird  Italy. 


These  successes  raised  the  king  to  such  an  eminence  that 
it  became  probable  that  all  checks  upon  his  will  would 
presently  fail.  Two  such  checks,  however,  still  existed,  and 
upon  them  would  depend  whether  the  monarch,  fast  verging 
upon  absolutism,  could  be  made  to  travel  a  constitutional 
path.  These  two  institutions  were:  (i)  the  Estates  General 
or  session  of  the  three  classes,  clergy,  nobility,  and  commons, 
v.'hom  the  king  consulted  in  periods  of  distress  but  was  not 
bound  to  obey,  and  (2)  the  Parliaments,  which  came  finally 
to  be  thirteen  in  number,  and  among  which  the  Parlia- 
ment of  Paris  was  by  far  the  most  important.  These  Par- 
liaments (parlements)  were  not  legislative  bodies,  as  the  cur- 
rent English  use  of  the  word  implies,  but  supreme  coiu-ts 
of  justice.  In  tracing  the  history  of  the  royal  power  we 
must  give  close  attention  henceforth  to  the  Estates  General 
and  the  Parliaments. 

Flattered  by  the  proud  position  won  by  himself  and  his 
ancestors,  Charles  VIII.  permitted  his  thoughts  to  range  to 
foreign  conquest.  He  undertook  to  conquer  Naples  on  the 
strength  of  certain  inherited  claims,  and  in  1494  invaded 
Italy.  But  his  policy  of  foreign  conquest  incited  the  hos- 
tility of  his  jealous  neighbor  Spain,  and  led  to  the  great 
French-Spanish  wars  for  the  possession  of  Italy,  which  lasted, 
with  occasional  interruptions,  for  fifty  years.  The  review  of 
Italy  has  acquainted  us  with  the  early  stages  of  this  conflict, 
Charles  VIII.  after  a  brief  triumph  was  forced  to  give  up 
Naples.  Finally  it  was  ceded  to  Ferdinand  of  Spain  (1504), 
Louis  XII.  of  France  (1498-1515)  renewed  the  struggle  in 
Italy  by  laying  hold  of  the  duchy  of  Milan,  and  though  he 
was  forced  to  give  up  Milan  in  1512  (the  Holy  League),  his 
successor,  Francis  I.,  immediately  reconquered  it  by  the  vic- 
tory of  Marignano  (15 15).  Thus  between  1494  and  15 15 
France  made  three  assaults  upon  the  Apennine  peninsula. 
Twice  she  had  made  a  lodgment  only  to  be  evicted,  and  we 


At  the  Beginning  of  the  Modern  Period      37 

shall  presently  see  that  her  third  conquest  was  no  more  du- 
rable than  the  other  two. 

Spain. 

References:  Hume,  The  Spanish  People,  Chapters  VIII., 
IX.;  Hume,  Spain,  1479-1788,  Introduction;  Burke, 
History  of  Spain,  Vol.  II.,  Chapters  XXXVII.-XLII.; 
Lea,  a  History  of  the  Inquisition  of  Spain. 

The  movement  toward  national  unity  and  absolutism,  Theunifica- 
just  observed  in  France,  is  no  less  characteristic  of  the  politi-  ^'°"  °  ^^'"° 
cal  development  of  Spain  during  the  fifteenth  century.  The 
Spanish  peninsula  had  suffered  a  sad  eclipse  in  the  early 
Middle  Ages  by  being  overrun  by  the  Mohammedan  Moors, 
who  crossed  the  straits  from  Africa.  Gradually  the  tide  of 
conquest  receded,  and  upon  the  liberated  territory  the  Span- 
iards constructed  a  number  of  Christian  states,  which  in  the 
face  of  a  common  enemy  inevitably  tended  to  act  in  concert. 
A  process  of  fusion  began,  which,  though  often  interrupted, 
culminated  in  the  fifteenth  century  in  the  marriage  of  Fer- 
dinand of  Aragon  (1479-15 16)  with  Isabella  of  Castile 
(1474-1504).  The  kingdoms  of  Aragon  and  Castile  both 
owed  their  greatness  to  their  effective  championship  of  the 
national  cause  against  the  Moors,  and  their  union  brought 
the  greater  part  of  the  peninsula  into  the  hands  of  a  single 
family.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  immediately  turned  their 
united  strength  against  the  hereditary  foe,  and  in  the  year  The  conquest 
1492  Granada,  the  last  stronghold  of  the  ISIoors,  was  cap-  °^']^  Moors, 
tured.  The  Mohammedan  power  in  Spain,  which  had 
lasted  for  eight  centuries,  had  come  to  an  end. 

The  unification  of  Spain  inaugurated  a  period  of  territorial  The  expansion 
expansion  which  can  hardly  be  paralleled  in  history.      In   '^^^P^'"- 
the  same  year  in  which  the  Moorish  kingdom  fell,  Columbus 
discovered  America  and  opened  to  Spain  the  vast  dominion  America. 


38 


The  European  States 


Naples. 


Navarre. 


Charles  I. 


The  growth 
of  absolutism. 


TLe  Cortes. 


of  the  New  World.  Next,  Ferdinand,  drawn  into  war  with 
France  on  account  of  the  conquest  of  Naples  by  Charles 
VIII.,  beat  the  French,  and  seized  the  kingdom  of  Naples 
for  himself  (1504).  In  151 2  he  further  acquired  that  part 
of  the  border  kingdom  of  Navarre  which  lay  upon  the 
Spanish  slope  of  the  PvTenees.  Thus  it  happened  that  when 
Ferdinand  was  succeeded,  upon  his  death,  by  his  grandson 
Charles  I.  (1516-56),  this  young  king  found  himself  master 
of  the  most  extensive  territories  of  the  world.  Although 
Charles  was,  merely  by  virtue  of  his  position  as  king  of 
Spain,  the  leading  sovereign  of  Europe,  he  had  additional 
interests  and  resources  as  ruler  of  the  Netherlands  and  arch- 
duke of  Austria,  which  raised  him  far  above  any  rival. 
Finally,  in  15 19,  the  electors  of  the  Empire  made  him 
emperor  under  the  name  of  Charles  V. 

The  growth  of  the  royal  power  had  meanwhile  kept  pace 
with  the  territorial  extension  of  Spain.  With  the  aid  of  the 
cities,  which  were,  as  already  explained,  the  natural  allies 
of  the  monarch,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  put  down  the 
robber-knights,  the  pest  of  every  feudal  country.  They 
thus  made  the  highways  safe  for  the  caravans  of  trade  and 
gave  peace  to  the  land.  Like  all  mediaeval  sovereigns,  the 
monarchs  of  Aragon  and  Castile  were  more  or  less  subject 
to  their  barons,  who,  when  they  met  in  formal  session, 
called  themselves  the  Cortes.  As  early  as  the  twelfth 
century  the  representatives  of  the  cities  were  admitted  to 
the  Cortes,  whereupon  the  proud  nobles  of  Castile,  largely, 
it  would  seem,  from  disgust  at  this  enforced  association 
with  commoners,  began  to  withdraw  from  the  parliamen- 
tary body.  It  was  a  stupid  action,  practically  shattering 
the  political  power  of  the  nobility.  But  the  loss  of  the 
nobles  was  the  gain  of  the  sovereign,  and  when  he  now  be- 
gan to  ride  rough-shod  over  the  commoners,  the  Cortes 
entered  upon  a  slow  decline.     In  Castile  they  dropped  oS 


At  the  Beginnmg  of  the  Modern  Period      39 


first,  while  in  Aragon  they  showed  some  vigor  as  late  as  the 
reign  of  Philip  II.  (d.  1598). 

But  the  event  which,  more  than  the  decline  of  the  Cortes, 
contributed  to  the  extension  of  the  central  power  was  the 
introduction  of  that  institution,  so  intimately  associated  with 
Dur  conception  of  Spain,  the  Inquisition.  The  fundamental  Thelnquisi- 
idea  of  the  Inquisition  is  a  committee  of  inquiry  to  ferret  out 
and  punish  religious  heresy.  Such  inquisitorial  bodies  were 
frequently  organized  both  by  Church  and  state  during  the 
Middle  Ages.  Spain  did  not  originate  the  idea,  she  only 
took  it  up  and  gave  it  a  new  and  effective  expression.  The 
country  had  a  large  population  of  Mohammedans  and  Jews, 
and  in  a  period  when  every  nation  was  animated  with  a 
blind  passion  for  its  particular  religion,  and  when  the  modern 
idea  of  toleration  was  everywhere  unknown,  the  alternative 
was  to  convert  the  man  of  another  faith  or  put  him  to  death. 
Add  that  in  this  case  the  man  of  the  strange  faith  was  also 
an  alien  in  blood,  and  you  have  a  double  reason  for  treating 
him  with  rigor.  The  unity  of  the  nation  as  well  as  the  unity 
of  the  Church  demanded  his  expulsion  as  a  poison  likely  to 
infect  the  whole  frame.  The  people  of  Spain  choto  to  take 
this  dark  view  of  the  heretical  and  unassimilated  peoples  in 
their  midst,  and  the  government  of  Ferdinand  and  fsabella 
adopted  the  opinion,  and  created,  with  the  aid  of  the  Church, 
the  system  of  repression  called  the  Inquisition.  Tribunals, 
supporting  a  special  police  force  and  their  own  prisons,  and 
operating  with  the  secrecy  and  silence  of  the  grave,  were 
created  at  various  places,  and  the  whole  organization  was 
put  in  charge  of  a  Grand  Inquisitor.  How  solemnly  this  The  work  of 
institution  interpreted  its  task  is  witnessed  by  the  fact  that  inquisitor, 
during  the  reign  of  the  first  Grand  Inquisitor,  Thomas  de 
Torquemada,  who  held  the  office  for  fifteen  years  (14S3- 
1498),  about  9,000  persons  were  burned  alive,  6,000  were 
burned  in  effigy,  and  90,000  were  condemned  to  ecclesiasti- 


40  The  European  States 

The  cal  and  civil  penalties.'    The  death  by  fire,  a  public  per- 

formance dignified  under  the  name  of  auto-da-fe,  or  act  of 
faith,  drew  large  crowds  of  interested,  applauding,  and  even 
devout  spectators.  The  vast  majority  of  the  Spanish  peo- 
ple, it  has  just  been  said,  approved  of  the  Inquisition.  But 
they  paid  a  hea\y  penalty  for  their  lamentable  intolerance  by 
subjecting  themselves  to  a  terrible  and  invisible  authority  and 
by  depriving  their  minds  of  that  vigor  and  elasticity  which 
result  from  the  free  and  unhindered  play  of  ideas.  In  con- 
sequence, they  never  developed  those  mental  qualities  which 
lead  to  an  intelligent  political  opposition,  and  fell  helplessly 
under  the  absolute  yoke  of  the  king. 

England. 

References:  Gardiner,  A  Student's  History  of  England, 
pp.  343-61  ;  Green,  A  Short  History  of  the  English 
People,  pp.  288-303  ;  Terry,  History  of  England, 
PP-  494-512. 

York  and  England  passed  through  momentous  vicissitudes  in  the 

I^3.nc3stcr 

fifteenth  century.  Under  the  ambitious  monarch  Henry  V. 
she  had  become  engaged  in  a  policy  of  foreign  conquest. 
But  though  Henry  V.  had  conquered  France,  Henry  VI. 
(1422-61)  had  lost  all  his  continental  possessions  again 
except  Calais.  Worse  than  this,  under  this  same  well- 
intentioned  but  weak-spirited  monarch  she  fell  a  prey  to 
civil  war.  The  House  of  York,  related  to  the  reigning 
House  of  Lancaster,  ventured  to  put  forth  a  claim  to  the 
throne,  and  the  war  that  ensued,  called  the  War  of  the  Roses, 
lasted  until  1485.  In  that  year  Richard  III.,  the  last  direct 
male  heir  of  the  House  of  York,  was  defeated  and  killed  at 
the  battle  of  Bosworth.    The  victor,  himself  of  the  House  of 

1  These   figures  are  probably  exaggerated.       A  careful   Catholic  his- 
torian (Gams)  estimates  the  executions  from  1481  to  1504  at  2,000. 


At  the  Begitinmg  of  the  Modern  Period      41 

Tudor,  but  at  the  same  time  a  descendant  on  the  female 

side  of  the  House  of  Lancaster,  succeeded  to  the  throne  as 

Henry  VII.  (1485-1509).     Through  the  marriage  of  Henry 

VII.  to  Ehzabeth,  a  daughter  of  Edward  IV.  of  the  House  of 

York,  the  new  House  of  Tudor  united  the  claims  of  both  The  House 

contending  houses.     The  situation,  as  is  usual  after  bitter  in-   °     "  °'^' 

ternal  broils,  remained  precarious,  and  Henr}'  had  to  face 

several  civil  disturbances  in  his  reign;  but  as  he  had  the 

Parliament  and  the  nation  back  of  him,  he  managed  to 

maintain  order  and  bring  the  ruinous  War  of  the  Roses  to 

an  end. 

Under  Henry,  an  extremely  able  and  cautious  man,  there  Henry  Vll. 
grew  up  in  England  the  "strong  Tudor  monarchy."  Com-  -Strong mon^ 
pared  with  such  warrior  predecessors  as  Edward  III.  and  ^^hy." 
Henry  V.,  Henry  VII.  exhibits  the  figure  of  a  crafty  and 
suspicious  politician.  For  such  a  one  the  situation  offered 
a  unique  opportunity.  Traditionally,  the  power  in  England 
lay  in  the  hands  of  the  king  and  the  Parliament,  composed 
of  the  two  houses  of  the  Lords  and  the  Commons.  But  as 
at  this  time  the  House  of  Lords  was  more  influential  than  the 
House  of  Commons,  the  power  in  England  lay  practically, 
as  everywhere  in  feudal  times,  with  king  and  lords,  lay  and 
spiritual.  Now  the  long  civil  war,  which  was  really  a  war 
of  two  noble  factions  ranged  under  the  banners  of  York  and 
Lancaster,  had  made  great  havoc  among  the  ranks  of  the  no- 
bility. Moreover,  it  had  confirmed  among  the  trading  mid- 
dle classes  the  desire  for  peace.  The  king  found  the  nobility 
diminished  in  authority,  and  the  common  people  disposed  to 
concur  in  the  repression  of  the  ruling  class.  He  determined 
to  profit  by  this  situation.  It  will  be  remembered  that  abso- 
lutism was  in  the  air  at  the  time,  as  is  witnessed  by  the  case 
of  France  and  Spain.  Without  breaking  any  laws  Henry 
managed  to  reduce  to  a  minimum  the  importance  of  his 
partner  in  the  government,  the  Parliament,  by  the  simple 


42 


The  European  States 


Henry  curbs 
the  nobles. 


Parliament 
remains  in 
control  of 
taxation. 


Henrj's  policy 
of  peace. 


device  of  calling  it  together  as  little  as  possible.  Only  twice 
during  the  last  thirteen  years  of  his  reign  did  he  take  counsel 
with  the  representatives  of  the  nation.  Parliament  was 
legally  associated  with  him  in  governing  England,  but 
when  it  did  not  occupy  the  stage  he  was  left  without  a 
rival. 

Perhaps  no  other  matter  claimed  so  much  of  Henry's 
attention  as  the  danger  arising  to  the  commonwealth  from 
the  nobility.  They  were  in  the  habit  of  defying  the  law- 
through  their  strong  castles,  their  numerous  following,  and 
their  power  to  control  or  overawe  the  local  courts.  By 
the  statutes  against  "  livery  and  maintenance  "  he  forbade 
them  to  keep  armed  and  liveried  retainers;  then,  to  weaken 
them  further,  he  assumed  the  right  to  summon  them  before  a 
special  court  of  justice  called  the  Star  Chamber  Court,  which 
sat  at  London,  was  composed  of  members  of  his  council, 
and  was  dependent  on  himself.  The  protection  of  the  local 
courts,  which  they  dominated  by  threats  or  influence,  was 
thereby  rendered  useless.  Peace,  rapid  and  complete,  was 
the  result.  Of  course  the  credit  of  the  king  was  greatly 
augmented.  In  fact,  England  would  have  fallen  as  com- 
pletely into  the  hands  of  her  sovereign  as  France  had  done, 
if  the  law  had  not  remained  upon  her  statute-books  that  the 
king  could  raise  no  tax  without  the  consent  of  his  Parliament. 
This  provision  neither  Henry  VII.  nor  any  of  his  successors 
dared  to  set  aside.  Thus,  although  not  strictly  observed, 
it  remained  the  law  of  the  land,  and  in  the  course  of  time, 
when  the  common  people  had  acquired  wealth  and  self- 
reliance,  it  was  destined  to  become  the  weapon  by  which  the 
"strong  monarchy"  was  struck  to  the  ground  and  Parlia- 
ment set  in  the  monarch's  place. 

It  was  chiefly  to  rid  himself  of  Parliament  and  to  strength- 
en the  monarchy  internally  that  Henry  kept  clear  of  foreign 
war.      War    would    have    required    money,   and    money 


At  the  Beginning  of  the  Modern  Period      43 

would  have  required  a  session  of  Parliament,  from  which 
might  have  come  an  interference  with  the  king's  plans. 
Henry,  who  had  the  sound  sense  to  be  satisfied  with 
doing  one  thing  thoroughly,  did  not  let  himself  be  drawn 
from  his  home  plans  by  the  prospect  of  barren  victories 
abroad. 

It  was  during  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.  that  Columbus  Henry  secures 
discovered  America.     England  was   not  yet   a  great   sea-   Nonh 
power,  but  Henry  managed  to  secure  at  least  a  claim  to  the  A°ienca. 
New  World  by  sending  out  John  Cabot,  who,  in  1497,  dis- 
covered the  continent  of  North  America. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   CHURCH 

References:  Emerton,  Mediaeval  Europe,  Chapter  XVI. 
(excellent) ;  van  Dyke,  Age  of  the  Renascence  (primar- 
ily a  history  of  the  Papacy) ;  Robinson,  History  of  West- 
ern Europe,  Chapters  XVI.,  XVII.;  Lea,  A  History  of 
the  Inquisition  of  the  Middle  Ages,  3  vols,  (a  scholarly 
account  of  mediaeval  heresies,  abuses,  and  the  origin  of 
the  friars) ;  Lea,  A  History  of  Auricular  Confession  and 
Indulgences,  3  vols.;  Jessopp,  The  Coming  of  the  Fri- 
ars; Creighton,  History  of  the  Papacy  (councils,  the 
temporal  power,  the  first  phase  of  the  Reformation; 
from  a  Protestant  point  of  view);  Pastor,  History  of 
the  Popes  (1305-1513)  (a  scholarly  work  by  a  Catholic). 

Source  Readings:  Robinson,  Readings  in  European  His- 
tory, Vol.  I.,  Chapters  II.,  XVI.,  XVII. ;  Thatcher  and 
McNeal,  a  Source  Book  for  Mediaeval  History,  Sec- 
tions V.  and  VIII. ;  Vol.  III.,  No.  6  (heresies,  Albi- 
genses,  etc.);  Translations  and  Reprints,  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania,  Vol.  IV.,  No.  4  (examples  of 
ex-communication  and  interdict). 

The  medieval         It  would  be  like  giving  a  play  without  the  hero  to  enumer- 
state.  ate  the  states  of  Europe  at  the  beginning  of  the  Modern  Period 

without  presenting  the  greatest  state  of  all — the  Church. 
For  a  citizen  of  the  twentieth  century,  above  all  for  an 
American  citizen,  it  is  very  difficult  to  realize  what  the 
Church  was  before  the  movement  called  the  Reformation. 
For  most  of  us  a  church  is  simply  an  organization  which 
provides  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  its  members.  This 
purpose  the  medioeva'  Church  tried  to  satisfy  and  in  the 

44 


The  Church  45 


fullest  degree,  but  it  also  did  a  great  deal  more,  and  by 
exercising  authority  over  its  subjects  in  a  great  many  matters 
that  are  now  considered  to  belong  more  properly  to  the 
civil  government,  acquired  the  character  of  a  state.  We 
must,  therefore,  accustom  ourselves  to  think  of  the  mediae- 
val Church  not  only  as  a  spiritual  association,  but  also  as 
endowed  with  many  of  the  essential  functions  of  a  state. 
Let  us  examine  it  under  this  double  aspect,  turning  first  to 
its  organization. 

The  Church  embraced  all  western  Europe,  and  all  nations  Extent  and 
from  Poland  to  Spain,  from  Ireland  to  Italy,  owed  allegiance  oUhe  Church 
to  it.  Its  head  was  the  Pope,  who  resided  at  his  capital, 
Rome,  and  exercised  an  immense  power  by  reason  of  the 
fact  that  he  controlled  the  election  of  the  bishops,  appointed 
to  many  ecclesiastical  offices,  and  approved  all  legislation. 
The  territory  of  the  Church  was  divided  into  dioceses,  at 
the  head  of  which  stood  bishops,  while  the  dioceses  were 
subdivided  into  parishes,  presided  over  by  priests.  Priest, 
bishop,  Pope,  gives  the  ascending  scale  of  the  essential  gov- 
erning officials  of  the  Church;  but  there  are  others  which  we 
cannot  afford  to  neglect.  Several  dioceses  were  for  the  sake 
of  convenience  thrown  together  into  a  province,  and  one  of 
the  bishops  thereof  granted  a  kind  of  headship,  under  the 
name  of  archbishop.  Legates  were  important  officials  in 
the  nature  of  ambassadors,  who  carried  the  Pope's  com- 
mands abroad,  and  spoke  in  his  name.  Very  noteworthy 
were  the  cardinals.  They  were  the  highest  dignitaries  under 
the  Pope,  were  associated  with  him  in  governing  the  Church, 
and  upon  them,  constituted  as  a  college  or  board,  devolved 
the  important  business  of  electing  each  new  successor  of 
St.  Peter. 

This  organization  went  back  in  the  main  to  very  early  The  monks. 
Christian  times.     In  the  course  of  the  Middle  Ages  there 
had  grown  up  another  body  of  churchmen  who  exercised 


46  The  Church 


great  influence — the  monks.  The  monks  were  organized 
in  societies  called  orders,  dwelt  in  monasteries,  and  owned 
much  land  and  many  churches.  The  earliest  and  most 
famous  order  was  the  Benedictines,  with  the  Cistercians, 
Carthusians,  and  others  following  in  their  footsteps.  Later, 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  the  two  famous  orders,  the  Francis- 

The  friars.  cans  and  the  Dominicans,  came  into  being,  fashioned  in  the 
heat  of  a  great  religious  revival  and  pledged  to  ideals  some- 
what different  from  those  of  their  earlier  brethren.  The 
older  orders — all  organized  more  or  less  on  the  Benedictine 
type — emphasized  the  life  of  studious  contemplation  of  di- 
vine things  in  seclusion  from  the  world  and  its  temptations. 
The  Franciscans  and  Dominicans,  on  the  other  hand,  sought 
out  the  crowded  centres  to  dispense  among  the  poor  and 
hea\y-laden  the  offices  of  Christian  charity.  Dedicated  to 
poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience,  and  seeking  their  living, 
at  least  at  first,  from  door  to  door,  they  were  distinguished 
from  the  older  monks  under  the  name  of  begging  brothers 
or  friars  (from  Latin  jrater,  i.e.,  brother). 

The  rivalry  The  heads  of  monasteries  were  called  abbots  or  priors. 

abb^^sand         They  and  their  flocks  were  usually  subject  to  the  juris- 

bishops.  diction  of  the  bishop  in  whose  diocese  they  resided,  but 

occasionally  individual  abbots  and,  in  the  case  of  the  beg- 
ging friars,  the  orders  themselves  had  obtained  the  right 
from  the  Pope  to  be  responsible  only  to  him.  Naturally  the 
Pope  profited  by  this  arrangement,  for  he  ar,quired  an  army 
of  immediate  adherents.  But  the  Pope's  gain  was  the 
bishop's  loss.  In  even,'  diocese  there  was  created  a  sharp 
competition,  because  the  bishop  and  his  following  of  priests 
looked  with  unconcealed  displeasure  upon  the  abbot  or 
prior  with  his  rival  host  of  monks  a'.id  friars,  and  many  were 
the  regions  that  were  riven  with  t?iis  conflict. 

The  clergy  is  The  officials  of  the  Church  from  Pope  to  priest,  and  in- 
cluding the  monastic  orders,  formed  one  of  the  component 


The  Church  47 


classes  of  the  feudal  state,  and  were  called  the  clerg)'.  The 
importance  of  the  clergy  appears  from  the  fact  that  they 
everywhere  composed  the  first  estate.  The  rest  of  the  in- 
habitants constituted  the  laity.  The  laity,  however,  in  its 
turn,  consisted  of  two  classes,  an  upper,  embracing  the 
nobility,  called  the  second  estate,  and  a  lower,  composed  of 
commoners — that  is,  merchants,  peasants,  artisans,  and  day- 
laborers — and  named  the  third  estate.  In  the  government  of  Clergy  and 
the  Church  the  laity  had  no  voice  whatever,  for  that  privilege  ^'  ^' 
was  reserved  exclusively  to  the  clergy,  in  recognition  of  the 
fact  that  only  through  their  mediation,  and  by  reason  of  the 
authority  and  jurisdiction  vested  in  them,  could  the  great 
work  of  saving  human  souls  be  carried  on. 

We  have  now  seen  how  the  Church  was  governed.  We 
have  also  seen  that  there  was  a  governing  class  of  Christians 
of  particular  distinction  called  clergy,  set  over  a  far  more 
numerous  class  called  laity.  Even  so,  if  the  governing  clergy 
had  governed  only  in  matters  spiritual,  there  would  be  no 
reason  for  speaking  of  the  Church  as  a  state.  But  it  en-  TheChurch 
gaged  in  other,  distinctly  secular  activities,  in  the  enumera-  system  of 
tion  of  which  its  judicial  prerogatives  deserve  the  first  place.  J^^'"^^- 
The  Church  possessed  its  own  body  of  law  called  canon  law, 
made  up  of  acts  of  councils  and  decisions  of  Popes,  and  pro- 
nounced justice  in  its  own  courts.  To  these  courts,  con- 
ducted by  ecclesiastics  in  ecclesiastical  buildings,  the  clergy 
were  exclusively  answerable,  which  means  that  they  could 
not  be  cited  before  the  civil  courts,  while  the  laity  itself  had  to 
appeal  to  them  in  many  matters,  such  as  marriage  and  di- 
vorce, which  the  state  has  since  taken  under  its  own  juris- 
diction. From  this  situation  it  followed  that  the  individual 
ecclesiastic  owed  a  primary  allegiance  to  the  Church,  while 
the  individual  layman  was  expected  to  render  obedience  to 
two  states,  each  claiming  sovereignty  over  him  in  certain 
respects. 


48 


The  Church 


The  Church 
taxes,  marries, 
educates. 


Relation  of 
Church  and 
state. 


The  Church  also  levied  taxes.  Finding  the  income  from 
its  immense  estates  insufficient  to  maintain  its  organization, 
it  collected  in  every  community  of  Europe  a  tax  called  tithe, 
amounting,  as  the  word  indicates,  to  one-tenth  of  the  annual 
produce  of  the  soil.  If  we  add  that  the  Church  had  complete 
control  of  marriage  and  divorce,  probated  wills,  and  had 
charge  of  education — all  matters  considered  nowadays  to  be- 
long to  the  competence  of  the  state — we  get  some  idea  of  the 
varied  activity  of  the  clergy  in  the  Middle  Ages.  But  let  no 
one  dream  for  a  moment  that  these  prerogatives  were  unlaw- 
ful usurpations.  They  were  exercised  by  the  Church  by 
universal  consent,  and  every  unprejudiced  student  will  ac- 
knowledge that  they  were  exercised  in  the  main  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  humanity.  But  they  show  very  clearly  that 
the  Church  of  the  Middle  Ages  discharged  many  of  the  func- 
tions which  are  reserved  at  present  to  the  state. 

A  curious  subject  for  modern  reflection  is  how  this  state 
contrived  at  all  to  accord  with  the  various  civil  states  with 
which  it  existed  side  by  side,  and  which  it  in  a  sense  com- 
prised. To  begin  with,  the  harmony  was  never  perfect. 
The  Church  trenched  upon  so  many  prerogatives  that  were 
of  the  essence  of  sovereignty,  that  the  state,  also  claiming 
sovereignty,  grew  jealous  and  alarmed.  Two  heads  of 
equal  authority  are  calculated  to  produce  discord  in  this 
imperfect  world,  and  yet,  none  the  less,  the  Church  and  state, 
united  for  better  and  for  worse,  endured  one  another  for 
many  centuries.  The  explanation  of  the  prolonged  union 
lies  in  the  fact  that  whenever  there  was  a  clash  the  weaker 
gave  way,  and  the  weaker  in  the  Middle  Ages  was  usually 
the  state.  This  subordination  of  the  civil  to  the  spiritual, 
so  astonishing  to  the  modern  mind,  is  explained  by  the  favor 
with  which  the  people  of  all  classes  regarded  the  Church. 
Quite  apart  from  the  awe  which  it  inspired  as  the  dispenser 
of  eternal  bliss,  it  had  conferred  so  large  a  number  of  solid 


The  Church  49 


benefits  in  protecting  the  weak  against  the  strong,  in  preach- 
ing peace,  and  in  spreading  enlightenment  that  men  looked 
up  to  it  with  love  and  trust,  and  defended  it,  when  occasion 
arose,  against  all  opponents,  including  the  state. 

So  much  for  the  power  and  the  splendor  of  the  Church.  The  Church 

.  r  ii  •  as  the  means 

And  yet  not  to  recognize  at  the  heart  and  core  of  this  mag-  of  saving  souls, 
nificent  structure,  covering  the  whole  earth,  the  simple 
mission  of  saving  souls  which  it  had  received  from  Christ* 
would  be  to  take  the  shell  and  let  the  kernel  go.  Whatever 
else  the  Church  did,  it  certainly  considered  its  main  business 
to  be  the  guidance  of  mankind  in  the  spirit  of  Clirist's  teach- 
ings, and  in  this  mystic  calling  lay  its  chief  hold  upon  the 
mediaeval  mind.  The  Church  received  the  new-born  babe 
into  its  fold  immediately  after  birth  with  the  rite  of  baptism. 
If  the  growing  boy  sought  instruction,  he  could  get  it  only 
from  the  schools  conducted  by  the  clergy,  for  there  were  no 
others.  Sin  could  be  wiped  out  by  repentance,  but  only  the 
priest  had  the  power  to  certify  the  Lord's  forgiveness  by 
means  of  confession  and  absolution.  Marriage  could  be 
celebrated  only  with  the  sanction  of  the  Church.  Finally, 
when  a  man  died,  the  priest  granted  or  refused  his  body 
Christian  burial.  So  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave  the 
Christian  walked  the  path  of  life  with  his  hand,  like  a  child's, 
in  the  hand  of  his  mother,  the  Church.  The  modern  man 
relies,  or  aspires  to  rely,  largely  on  his  individual  strength. 
We  have  remarked  how  this  characteristic  was  fostered  by 
the  Renaissance.  Since  that  time  many  men,  perhaps  pre- 
sumptuously, have  not  been  afraid  to  face  the  mysteries  be- 
yond the  veil  alone  and  unsupported.  The  medic-cval  man 
abominated  any  such  pretension  as  hollow  and  blasphemous. 
The  Church  was  founded  upon  a  rock,  the  one  sure  and  abid- 
ing thing  in  a  world  of  change.  She  had  arisen  in  obedience 
to  a  fiat  that  fell  from  the  mouth  of  God;  she  had  been  dow- 
ered with  grace  to  cleanse  man  from  the  consequences  of  siq 


50 


The  Church 


The  seven 
sacraments 


and  reconcile  him  with  the  Father;  finally,  to  him  who  yielded 
perfect  obedience  she  opened,  after  a  period  of  probation  in 
purgatory,  the  gates  of  paradise.  All  this  was  accepted  with 
such  unconditional  faith  that  the  least  doubt  was  looked 
upon  as  an  enormity,  and  in  case  of  persistence,  invariably 
punished  with  death. 

It  was  this  sacred  character  of  the  Church  that  made  that 
appeal  to  which  men  have  ever  been  most  susceptible. 
With  hearts  filled  with  piety  and  reverence  they  looked  to 
her  as  the  one  sure  door  to  salvation.  And  here  we  must 
enter  for  a  moment  the  difficult  realm  of  theology.  The 
Church,  recognizing  the  advantage  of  system,  had  taken  the 
mystic  faiths  and  practices  of  the  early  Christians  and  given 
them  a  precise  theological  formulation  under  the  name  of 
the  seven  sacraments.  Chiefly  by  means  of  them  the 
Church  performed  its  work  of  saving  souls,  and  when  in  the 
period  of  the  Reformation  the  whole  manner  of  this  work 
was  challenged,  it  was  the  sacraments  that  formed  the  par- 
ticular object  of  Protestant  attack.  Without  a  knowledge 
of  them  the  movement  inaugurated  by  Luther  must  remain 
a  riddle. 

I  Ordination.  The  fundamental  sacrament  was  that  of  ordination,  per- 
formed only  by  the  bishop,  and  conferring  upon  the  candidate 
to  priesthood  the  sacerdotal  character  with  the  authority 
and  power  to  perform  other  sacraments.  By  the  sacrament 
of  baptism  the  new-born  child  was  received  into  the  mem- 
bership of  the  Church.  The  holy  water  on  his  brow  was  a 
symbolic  act,  signifying  that  his  share  in  the  guilt  of  Adam's 
fall  was  washed  away.  When  the  boy  reached  the  age  of 
about  twelve  years  he  received,  after  due  instruction  in 
the  creed,  confirmation  from  the  bishop,  who  rubbed  holy 
oil  and  balsam  on  his  forehead.  The  significance  of  this 
act  was  to  strengthen  him  to  resist  temptation.     The  sac- 

...  Marriage.       rament  of  marriage  bound  man  and  wife  in  a  holy  bond 


2.  Baptism. 


7,.  Confirma 
lion. 


The  Church 


51 


which  must  never  be  sundered.  At  the  hour  of  death  the 
priest  stood  by  the  bedside,  and  by  anointing  the  dying  man 
with  holy  oil  strengthened  the  soul  to  pass  through  its  or- 
deal. This  was  called  the  sacrament  of  extreme  (or  last) 
unction.  If  a  man  fell  victim  to  temptation  and  sinned — and 
in  the  view  of  the  Church  man,  owing  to  his  wicked  nature, 
was  constantly  sinning— he  could  receive  pardon  only  by 
the  sacrament  of  penance.  This  consisted  of  four  parts: 
contrition  over  the  sin  committed,  satisfaction  (or  repara- 
tion) for  the  sinful  act,  confession  to  a  priest,  and  absolution 
by  the  priest.  Finally  there  was  the  sacrament  of  the  Holy 
Eucharist.  It  is  the  kernel  of  the  mass,  the  noble  and 
ancient  service  of  the  Church.  During  mass  the  bread  and 
wine  offered  at  the  altar  are  mystically  changed  into  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ  and  given  to  the  faithful  in  com- 
munion.    The  mystic  change  is  called  transubstantiation. 

It  will  be  observed  that  one  sacrament,  ordination,  con- 
ferred upon  the  priest  an  especial  quality  and  character.  On 
this  quality  rested  largely  the  claim  of  the  clergy  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  body  entirely  distinct  from  the  laity,  and  alone 
fitted  to  carry  on  the  government  of  the  Church.  Other 
important  consequences  of  the  sacramental  system  demand 
attention.  Since  the  sacraments  were  administered  ex- 
clusively by  the  clergy,  and  since  there  was  no  salvation  for 
sinful  man  without  them,  it  follows  not  only  that  the  clergy 
acquired  an  absolute  command  over  all  souls,  but  also  that 
any  requirements  imposed  in  connection  with  the  sacra- 
ments had  to  be  conscientiously  fulfilled.  This  brings  us 
to  the  important  matter  of  works,  so  fiercely  attacked  in  the 
period  of  the  Reformation.  Not  only  did  the  sacraments, 
as  described,  impose  a  considerable  number  of  ceremonious 
acts,  but  in  the  sacrament  of  penance  lay  the  germ  of  a  great 
many  performances  which  require  a  further  word.  In  ad- 
dition  to   contrition,  confession,  and   absolution,  penance 


5.  Extreme 
unction. 


6.  Penance. 


7.  Holy  Eu- 
charist or  the 
Lord's  Supper. 


Consequences 
of  the  sacra- 
mental system. 


The  sacra- 
ments en- 
courage the 
belief  in 
works. 


52 


The  Church 


Indulgences. 


Indulgences 
and  the 
tre<asure  of 
merits. 


to  be  complete  called  also  for  satisfaction.  Now  the  theory 
of  satisfaction  is  that,  although  the  sin  is  forgiven  by  God 
by  virtue  of  contrition,  confession,  and  absolution,  there 
remain  certain  temporal  punishments  v^^hich  must  be  satis- 
-fied  either  in  this  world  through  good  works  or  in  the  next 
by  prolonged  punishment  in  purgatory. i  It  will  be  seen 
that  penance  with  its  demand  for  satisfaction  encouraged 
the  performance  of  good  works,  which  might  take  the  form 
of  pilgrimages,  acts  of  charity,  or  contributions  to  the 
ecclesiastical  building  fund,  and  which  would  be  moral  and 
exalting  if  not  performed  mechanically  or  through  fear. 
And  therewith  we  reach  a  later  outgrowth  and  adjunct  of 
the  sacrament  of  penance — the  Indulgences.  The  Church 
came  to  believe  that  the  temporal  punishment  which  accord- 
ing to  the  theologians  is  a  sure  consequence  of  sin,  can  be 
remitted  by  means  of  the  application  of  the  treasure  of  the 
Church.  The  treasure  of  the  Church  is  the  whole  sum  of 
the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  addition  to  all  the  good  works 
of  all  the  saints.  The  saints  and  martyrs  suffered  with 
patience  many  unjust  tribulations,  which,  reckoned  as  mer- 
its, more  than  sufficed  to  expiate  such  sins  as  they  themselves 
may  have  committed  while  on  earth.  All  such  good  works 
in  excess  of  what  they  needed  to  make  satisfaction  for  their 
own  sins  are  called  works  of  supererogation,  comprise  the 
treasure  of  the  Church,  and  may  at  the  discretion  of  the 
Church,  that  is,  of  its  head  the  Pope,  be  applied  to  the  bene- 
fit of  others,  who  are  lacking  in  such  good  works.  One  of 
the  ways  in  which  the  Pope  distributes  the  treasure  of  merits 
is  by  means  of  personal  certificates,  issued  for  a  greater  or  a 
lesser  fee,  and  called  Indulgences. 

*  The  functions,  according  to  Catholic  theology,  of  hell,  purgatory, 
and  paradise  are  clearly  brought  out  by  the  following  quotation  from  the 
manual  of  Father  Dati :  "  There  are  many  Christians  who  when  they  die 
are  neither  so  perfectly  pure  and  clean  as  to  enter  heaven,  nor  so  burdened 
with  unrepented  deadly  sin  as  to  go  to  hell.  Such  as  these  the  Church  be- 
lieves to  be,  for  a  time,  in  a  middle  state,  called  purgatory." 


The  Church  53 


Since  the  clergy  were  the  most  exalted  and  richest  class   Corruption 
in  Europe — the  first  estate — they  paid  the  usual  price  of 
power  by  more  than  ordinary  exposure  to  temptation.     All 
through  the  Middle  Ages  serious  charges  of  corruption  were 
preferred  against  them.     Occasionally  Popes  and  prelates 
inaugurated  a  reform,  but  in  spite  of  these  praiseworthy 
efforts  the  abuses  persisted  or  cropped  up  again.     Human 
nature  is  weak  and  frail  even  under  surplice  and  cowl. 
The  chief  abuse  was  perhaps  simony — the  buying  and  selling 
of  Church  offices.     The  Church  officially  recognized  simony  Simony, 
as  a  sin,  but  many  clergymen  and  even  Popes  were  none  the 
less  guilty  of  it.     So  long  as  abbacies  and  bishoprics  pro- 
duced huge  revenues,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  ambitious  men 
should  crave  their  possession  even  at  the  price  of  bribery. 
Another  charge  against  the  upper  clergy  was  that  they  lived 
in  pride  and  worldliness,  quite  out  of  keeping  with  followers 
of  Christ  and  the  apostles.     Many  rode  to  hunt  and  even  to  Worldliness. 
war,  and  lived  in  splendid  palaces  amid  a  round  of  festivals. 
The  lower  clergy  were  accused  of  squeezing  excessive  fees  Fees, 
out  of  the  parishioners  for  marriage,  burial,  and  other  nec- 
essary services,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  many 
ecclesiastics  of  all  ranks  were  guilty  of  gross  carnal  vices.   Sensuality. 
To  this  latter  charge  the  monks  in  particular  seem  to  have 
laid  themselves  open. 

These  shortcomings  of  the  clergy  were  scourged  by  Permissible 
ardent  and  upright  priests  all  through  the  Middle  Ages,  sible"cntidsm. 
sometimes  even  by  men  occupying  the  highest  ecclesiastical 
positions.  It  did  not  derogate  from  the  Church  to  make 
public  recognition  of  the  fact  that  some  of  its  ministers  were 
unworthy.  Here  then  was  a  field  of  permissible  criticism. 
But  it  was  different  when  criticism  began  to  gnaw  at  the 
organization  and  doctrine  of  the  Church,  stamped  with  a 
holy  and  unalterable  character,  and  proclaimed  and  lauded 
as  God's  own  handiwork.    Against  such  critics  the  Church 


54 


The  Church 


Excommuni- 
cation. 


rieresv  in  the 
Middle  Ages. 


Waldensians 
and  Albi- 
gensians. 


was  armed  with  formidable  weapons.  She  branded  them  as 
heretics,  and  launched  her  excommunication  against  them, 
excluding  them  from  her  fellowship  and  the  association  of 
the  living.  There  she  left  them,  for  an  ancient  principle 
forbade  her  to  shed  blood;  but  the  state,  at  this  juncture, 
stepped  in  to  seize  the  heretic  as  a  public  enemy  and  put 
him  to  death,  usually  by  fire. 

In  spite  of  these  rigorous  measures  heresy  and  heretics 
were  not  uncommon  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Even  in  that 
period  of  authority  some  men  were  inclined  to  urge  their 
individual  convictions.  Of  the  occasional  isolated  heretics, 
who  were  perpetually  cropping  up  at  odd  corners  of  Europe, 
there  is  no  need  to  speak.  But  there  were  concerted  move- 
ments, affecting  a  wide  area,  which  really  jeopardized  the 
existence  of  the  Church.  Of  these  collective  heresies,  two, 
the  Waldensian  and  the  Albigensian,  gave  the  Church  much 
concern  about  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century.  The 
Waldensian  movement  originated  with  Peter  Waldo  of 
Lyons,  who  preached  poverty,  humility,  and  personal  san- 
tification.  He  did  not  attack  the  Church  directly,  but  pro- 
fessed to  be  able  to  do  without  it  as  a  means  of  salvation. 
The  Albigensians,  who  were  particularly  strong  in  a  town  of 
southern  France  called  Albi — hence  their  name — went  much 
further,  asserting  that  the  religion  of  their  time  was  false  and 
the  Church  a  usurper.  The  Church  treated  both  sects  as 
enemies,  but  naturally  felt  more  implacably  hostile  toward 
the  Albigensians.  When  the  ordinary  method  of  excom- 
munication proved  ineffective.  Pope  Innocent  III.  in  1208 
preached  a  crusade  against  them,  which  resulted  in  their  be- 
ing crushed  in  a  general  and  horrible  massacre.  To  com- 
plete the  work  of  the  crusade,  the  Inquisition  was  invented. 
It  was  composed  of  special  tribunals,  that  is,  ecclesiastical 
law-courts,  which  investigated  disbelief,  and  brought  the  of- 
fenders to  punishment,     This  is  the  first  appearance  of  this 


The  Church  55 


famous  institution,  which  afterward  acquired  so  unenviable 
a  reputation  in  Spain. 

But  the  tale  of  mediaeval  heresy  does  not  end  here.  In  the  Wydif. 
fourteenth  century  John  Wye)  if  of  England  attacked  the 
Pope,  criticised  Indulgences,  pilgrimages,  and  other  features 
of  the  Church,  and  soon  boasted  a  considerable  following. 
He  himself  was  not  seriously  molested,  and  died  peaceably 
in  his  bed  in  1384;  however,  his  followers,  called  Lollards, 
were  presently  persecuted  and  hunted  to  death.  But  criti- 
cism was  in  the  air  and  had  come  to  stay.  Wyclif,  dying, 
passed  on  the  torch  of  protest  to  John  Huss  of  Bohemia,  and  Huss. 
when  Huss  was  sentenced  to  be  burned  at  the  stake  by  the 
General  Council  of  the  Church,  sitting  at  Constance  (i4i5)> 
his  death  raised  such  a  commotion  among  his  countrymen 
and  followers  that,  although  crusade  after  crusade  was 
preached  against  them,  they  were  not  crushed  for  manv 
years. 

As  Wyclif  followed  the  Waldensians,  and  Huss  Wyclif, 
so  Huss  found  a  successor  in  Martin  Luther.  The  revolt 
inaugurated  by  him  stamped  its  name  and  character  on  the 
first  century  of  the  Modern  Period.  Why  Luther's  move- 
ment succeeded  where  so  many  earlier  ones  had  failed 
will  appear  in  the  following  pages. 


PART  I 
THE   REFORMATION 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY  TO  THE  PEACE  OF  AUGS- 
c        BURG  (1555) 

References:  Johnson,  Europe  in  the  Sixteenth  Century, 
Chapters  II.,  III.,  IV.,  V.;  Henderson,  A  Short  His- 
tory of  Germany,  Vol.  I.,  Chapters  X.-XV.;  Fisher, 
History  of  the  Reformation,  Chapters  III.,  IV.,  V.; 
KosTLiN,  Life  of  Luther;  Beard,  Martin  Luther  and 
the  Reformation  in  Germany  until  the  Close  of  the  Diet 
of  Worms;  Emerton,  Desiderius  Erasmus  (excellent); 
Armstrong,  Charles  V.;  Creighton,  History  of  the 
Papacy  Vol.  V.,  (a  Protestant  view  of  Luther  and  the 
revolt);  Janssen,  History  of  the  German  People  Vol. 
III.,  (a  Catholic  view  of  Luther);  The  Cambridge 
Modern  History,  Vol.  I.,  Chapters  XVL,  XVIL; 
Vol.  II.,  Chapters  V -VIIL 

Source  Readings:  Translations  and  Reprints,  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania,  Vol.  II.,  No.  6  (the  ninety-five 
theses,  the  twelve  articles  of  the  peasants);  Wage  and 
Buchheim,  Luther's  Primary  Works  (contains  the 
ninety-five  theses  and  three  important  pamphlets); 
Robinson,  Readings,  Vol.  II.,  Chapters  XXIV.,  XXV., 
XXVI. ;  Luther,  Table  Talk. 

We  are  aware  from  our  general  survey  that  Germany  at   Uplift  of 
the  beginning  of  the  Modern  Period  was  a  federal  state,   i^^^ 
known  officiaUy  as  the  Holy  Roman  Empire;   that  this  Renaissance. 
federal  state  was  almost  ludicrously  weak  and  disorganized; 
and   that   under   Maximilian   I.    (1493-1519)    some  slight 
improvement  had  taken  place  in  consequence  of  a  general 

59 


6o 


The  Reformation  in  Germany 


The  Protestant 
revolution 
results  from 
the  general 
progress 
of  the  world. 


Italian  and 
German 
humanism 
compared. 


cry  for  reform.  The  movement  for  reform  was  itself  the 
result  of  the  uplift  of  German  life  which  had  set  in  with 
the  Renaissance.  Having  followed  the  awakened  German 
people  in  their  demand  for  an  improved  organization  of 
government,  let  us  now  take  note  how  the  Renaissance 
affected  their  thought  and  life,  and  above  all  altered  their 
ancient  relation  to  the  Church.  In  observing  these  phe- 
nomena we  acquaint  ourselves  with  the  origin  of  the 
greatest  movement  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  Refor- 
mation. 

We  have  referred  to  the  Albigenses,  Wyclif,  and  Huss  to 
show  that  the  Church  did  not  rule  unchallenged  even  in  the 
Middle  Ages.  The  weakness  of  these  movements  of  protest 
was  that  they  sprung  from  special  conditions  and  remained 
localized.  The  defiance  flung  down  by  Luther  in  the  six- 
teenth century  was  much  more  intimately  bound  up  with  the 
whole  life  and  progress  of  the  time.  In  fact,  the  Reforma- 
tion would  have  been  impossible  without  that  vigorous  for- 
ward movement  called  the  Renaissance.  Therefore,  the 
Italian  trader  when  he  brought  back  to  Europe  the  spices 
of  Arabia,  Columbus  when  he  discovered  America,  and 
Gutenberg  when  he  invented  printing,  may  be  said  to  have 
helped  prepare  it.  But  chiefly  the  movement  of  Luther  had, 
from  its  nature,  to  be  matured  in  the  realm  of  the  spirit. 
The  mediaeval  Church  owed  its  power  to  the  fact  that  it  had 
its  root  in  the  universal  mind  of  Europe;  in  the  mind  and 
by  the  mind  alone  could  it  be  successfully  attacked.  Thus 
the  origin  of  the  revolt  led  by  Luther,  although  it  was  fed 
from  a  score  of  sources,  can  be  most  clearly  followed  in  the 
history  of  that  intellectual  revolution  already  touched  upon 
under  the  name  of  the  revival  of  learning. 

The  revival  of  learning,  originating  in  Italy,  was  essen- 
tially an  attempt  to  replace  the  dry  and  profitless  scholastic 
studies  by  the  fresh  fountains  of  life  which  flowed  in  classical 


To  the  Peace  of  Augsburg  (j'SSS)  ^^ 

literature.  From  Italy  the  movement  spread  over  Europe, 
but  naturally  in  every  country  it  was  modified  in  accordance 
with  the  national  character.  When  it  reached  Germany 
it  quickened,  much  as  in  Italy,  the  interest  in  the  classics 
and  instilled  in  men  a  new  joyousness,  but  it  was  mainly 
serviceable  in  giving  a  fresh  vigor  to  the  old  theological 
studies.  The  Italian,  with  his  lively  sensations  and  im- 
pulsive temperament,  became  so  entirely  identified  with  the 
secular  side  of  the  new  learning  that  he  was  seized  with  a 
violent  revulsion  of  feeling  against  all  that  signified  the 
Middle  Ages.  He  was  tempted  to  cut  loose  from  the  Church 
entirely,  as  from  an  exploded  superstition,  and  many  hu- 
manists frankly  threw  over  their  old  faith  as  useless  ballast 
and  avowed  themselves  to  be  pagans.  Not  so  the  German 
students.  They  had  been  profoundly  interested  in  theology 
in  the  Middle  Ages  and  they  sturdily  remained  true  to  their 
old  love  in  the  Renaissance;  only,  inspired  by  the  light  that 
had  risen  in  Italy,  they  resolved  that  the  whole  body  of 
Church  lore  must  be  critically  examined  and  harmonized. 
The  Italian  humanists  had  quickened  the  historical  instinct 
by  opening  an  avenue  to  classical  antiquity.  Would  not 
the  German  humanists  be  performing  an  equally  important 
service  to  mankind  if  they  found  the  way  back  to  Palestine 
and  the  primitive  bases  of  Christianity?  Here  then  lay  the 
special  work  which  the  German  humanists  undertook.  They 
turned  to  the  Fathers  of  the  Church  and  to  the  Bible  itself, 
in  order  to  drink  of  the  original  fountains  of  their  faith. 
With  their  new  knowledge  they  then  approached  the  Church 
of  their  own  day,  and  were  not  slow  to  discover  and  publish 
to  the  world  its  many  shortcomings.  Theirs  was  a  double 
work  of  scholarship  and  criticism,  which  went  on  side  by  side. 

These  German  humanists  tried  to  wedge  their  way  into  The  German 
the  universities  and  naturally  met  with  resistance  from  the     "'"^"'^  ^■ 
old-time   theologians,    virulent   enemies   of   anything   that 


62  The  Reformation  in  Germany 


smacked  of  free  investigation.  However,  by  the  beginning 
of  the  sixteenth  century  a  considerable  number  of  seats  of 
learning,  with  Erfiurt  and  Wittenberg  at  their  head,  had 
opened  their  doors  to  the  new  thought.  One  of  the  pioneers 
ReuchHn.  in  university  circles  was  John  Reuchlin  (1455-1522),  through 

whose  life  we  can  perhaps  best  get  at  what  was  significant  in 
German  humanism.     Reuchlin  had  been  led  by  his  interest 
in  the  Old  Testament  to  the  study  of  Hebrew,  of  which  lan- 
guage he  published  a  grammar  and  lexicon  in  1506.     It  con- 
stituted a  notable  achievement  of  scholarship  in  his  day,  but 
to  the  theologian  of  the  old  school  the  occupation  with  He- 
brew, the  tongue  of  a  detested  people  who  had  rebelled 
against  God,  was  nothing  short  of  sin.    Reuchlin  was  venom- 
ously attacked  by  the  professors  of  the  university  of  Co- 
logne, who  were  Dominican  friars  of  a  conservative  and  back- 
ward type.     Universities,  it  must  be  remembered,  were  at 
that  time  still  conducted  as  adjuncts  of  the  Church,  and  were 
largely  in  the  hands  of  the  various  orders  of  monks.     The 
humanists  gathered  around  their  threatened  leader,  and  a 
war  of  pamphlets  followed,  which  is  chiefly  remarkable  for 
having  stirred  up  public  opinion  and  for  having  carried  the 
humanistic  propaganda  out  of  the  restricted  university  circle 
into  the  ranks  of  general  society.    One  incident  of  the  literary 
polemic  made  an  indelible  impression.     Reuchlin's  friends 
The  "Letters      published  an  impertinent  satire,  called  the"  Letters  of  Ob- 
rf Obscure        ^^^^^  Men"  (1515-17),  which  purported  to  be  a  series  of 
epistles  written  by  former  students  and  admirers  to  one  of 
the  Cologne  professors.     The  fun  lay  in  having  the  fossil- 
ized theologians  reveal,  by  means  of  an   intimate  corre- 
spondence from  which  all  restraints  were  removed,  their 
own  ignorance,  narrow-mindedness,  and  secret  viciousness, 
and  all  this  in  an  even  exaggerated  version  of   the  gro- 
tesque Latin  current  among  the  schoolmen.     Much  of  the 
sport  was  of  the  nature  of  rude  horse-play,  but  it  did  its 


To  the  Peace  of  Augsburg  {1555)  63 

work,  and  fairly  buried  the  old  theology  under  a  tempest 
of  inextinguishable  laughter,  which  swept  the  length  and 
breadth  of  Germany. 

Ulrich  von  Hutten  (d.  1523),  who  had  a  hand  in  the  com-  Huuea 
position  of  the  "  Letters  of  Obscure  Men,"  is  another  interest- 
ing figure  of  this  period.  While  Reuchlin  is  exclusively  the 
scholar,  the  professor,  Hutten  is  more  the  literary  man  and 
journalist,  who  popularizes  the  results  of  scholarship.  The 
critical  material  which  humanism,  whether  in  Italy  or  Ger- 
many, supplied,  he  forged  into  a  weapon  wherewith  he  smote 
the  defenders  of  the  old  abuses  in  Church  and  state.  He 
wrote  in  his  native  German,  frankly  seeking  to  reach  the  peo- 
ple, and  with  his  biting  pen  made  many  converts. 

But  the  most  important  figure  in  the  humanistic  circles  Erasmus. 
of  Germany  as  well  as  of  all  Europe  was  Erasmus  (1467- 
1536).  Though  born  at  Rotterdam  he  lived  in  turn  in  every 
country  of  Europe,  and  always  regarded  himself  as  a  cosmo- 
politan. No  humanist  exercised  so  wide  an  empire  as  he,  for, 
though  a  scholar,  he  did  not  bury  himself  in  solitude,  but 
grappled  with  the  burning  questions  of  the  day.  He  wrote 
in  Latin,  which  was  still  so  generally  read  and  spoken  that 
its  use  secured  to  the  writer  the  educated  classes  of  all 
Europe  as  an  audience. 

Erasmus's  most  important  work  of  scholarship  was  his   Erasmus  and 

the  New 

edition,  the  first  to  appear  in  print,  of  the  New  Testament  Testament, 
in  the  original  Greek  (1516).  It  was  the  opening  shot  in 
the  long  war  of  Biblical  criticism,  which  has  agitated  the 
world  ever  since.  He  added  a  Latin  translation,  piously 
hoping  to  create  an  enthusiasm  which  would  lead  to  the 
translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  all  the  tongues,  and  raise 
them  into  what  they  never  were  in  the  Middle  Ages,  a 
household  book.  "I  long,"  he  wrote,  "that  the  husband- 
man should  sing  them  to  himself  as  he  follows  the  plough, 
that  the  weaver  should  hum  them  to  the  tune  of  his  shuttle, 


64 


Tlie  Reformation  in  Germany 


Erasmus 
popularizes 
classical 
.  culture. 


His  satirical 
writings. 


The  early 
humanists 
criticise,  but 
do  not  fall 
away  from 
the  Church. 


that  the  traveller  should  beguile  with  them  the  weariness  of 
his  journey." 

Thus  in  close  connection  with  his  work  of  erudition  Eras- 
mus pursued  the  aim  of  popular  improvement,  in  the  belief 
that  men  must  be  better  educated  if  the  ills  of  society  were 
ever  to  diminish,  and  the  reign  of  sweetness  and  light  be  es- 
tablished. His  many  editions  and  anthologies  of  the  Latin 
authors  were  all  put  out  in  this  spirit,  and  even  his  occasional 
satirical  writings  were  informed  with  this  same  noble  sen- 
timent. His  most  famous  production  in  this  vein  was  his 
"Praise  of  Folly"  (1509),  wherein  he  lashes  mercilessly  the 
luxury  of  the  prelates,  the  wars  of  ambitious  princes,  and, 
above  all,  the  slothfulness  and  bigotry  of  the  monks,  whom 
he  especially  detested.  But  the  book,  though  attacking 
abuses,  is  far  from  irreligious,  for  this  great  scholar  typifies 
the  spirit  of  northern  humanism  in  that  he  always  strove  to 
walk  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord. 

Germany  was  in  the  midst  of  the  intellectual  agitation 
sown  by  Erasmus,  Reuchlin,  and  their  followers  when 
Martin  Luther  made  his  appearance.  He  was  the  heir  of 
their  theological  studies,  to  which  he  brought  an  even  more 
fearlessly  critical  spirit  than  theirs;  but  he  had  also  an  im- 
pulsiveness, lacking  in  them,  which  soon  plunged  him  into 
mortal  strife  with  the  old  theology  and  the  old  Church.  To 
the  fighting  platform  which  he  presently  adopted  only  the 
younger  section  of  the  humanists  was  willing  to  subscribe; 
many  of  the  older  men,  with  Erasmus  at  their  head,  depre- 
cated the  violent  turn  of  affairs  and  repudiated  Luther's 
leadership.  They  had  dreamed  of  reform  by  means  of  a 
gradual  enlightenment  of  the  human  race,  and  now  they 
were  plunged  into  a  state  of  war  profoundly  abhorrent  to 
their  refined  and  scholarly  temperament.  Their  disappoirit- 
ment  rose  to  a  high  pitch,  and  Erasmus  gradually  withdrew 
from  the  public  eye  to  sulk  out  the  rest  of  his  life  in  his  study 


To  the  Peace  of  Augsburg  {1555)  65 


What  he  failed  to  see  was  that  the  explosive  attack  of  Luther 
was  the  inevitable  practical  climax  of  the  scholarship  and 
criticism  to  which  he  and  his  friends  had  dedicated  their 
lives. 

Martin  Luther  was  born  November  10,  1483,  in  a  village   Martin 
at  the  foot  of  the  Harz  Mountains.     His  ancestry  for  many  ^' 

generations  back  had  been  hard-working  peasants,  and 
peasant  sturdiness  and  simplicity,  with  much  of  peasant 
obstinacy  and  superstition,  remained  characteristic  of  this 
son  of  the  soil  to  the  end  of  his  days.  By  personal  sacrifices 
his  parents  managed  to  send  young  Martin  to  the  university 
of  Erfurt  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  lawyer  of  him,  but  in 
the  year  1505,  following  what  appears  to  have  been  an 
irresistible  religious  impulse,  he  abandoned  his  legal  studies 
and  joined  the  Augustinian  order  of  friars.  He  took  his 
new  duties  with  such  grim  seriousness  that  he  soon  won  the 
applause  of  his  superiors  and  was  rapidly  advanced  in  honor 
and  responsibility.  The  elector  of  Saxony  had  lately 
founded  a  new  university  at  Wittenberg.  In  1508  Luther 
was  added  to  its  faculty  and  rose  soon  to  be  professor  of 
theology.  Shortly  after  (15 11),  he  was  sent  to  Rome  on 
business  of  his  order,  and  at  the  capital  of  Christianity 
leceived  an  indelible  impression  of  the  corruption  of  its 
governors.  On  his  return  he  assumed  also  the  duties  of 
preacher  in  the  town  church,  and  rapidly  became  a  moral 
force  in  the  community.  All  things  considered,  Luther, 
on  approaching  middle  age,  was  embarked  upon  a  career 
unfolding  a  prospect  of  great  influence  and  success. 

But  much  more  important  to  Luther  than  these  worldly  Luther'i 
preferments  were  the  doubts  and  questions  which  beset  him 
all  the  days  of  his  youth.  We  have  seen  that  the  mediaeval 
Church  maintained  the  conception  of  an  offended  God  to  be 
appeased  by  sinful  man  by  means  of  the  sacraments  and 
holy  works,  involving  confession,  prayers,  pilgrimages,  fasts, 


66 


TJie  Reformation  in  Germany 


Justification 
y  faith. 


Luther's  doc- 
trine implies 
an  attack  on 
the  clergy  and 
the  sacra- 
mental system. 


and  flagellations.  The  theology  of  the  Church  insisted  em- 
phatically on  faith  and  contrition,  but  by  the  multiplication 
of  ceremonies  and  outward  acts  of  worship,  the  necessity 
of  the  soul  seeking  to  put  itself  at  peace  with  God,  as  a 
preliminary  to  all  else,  was  frequently  neglected.  Luther 
observed  that  the  average  layman  was  imagining  that  he 
was  a  good  Christian  when  he  went  mechanically  through 
his  round  of  ceremonies.  He  went  through  them  conscien- 
tiously himself,  but  when  they  failed  to  appease  his  scruples 
he  began  to  look  about  for  another  avenue  of  approach 
to  God.  Being  a  man  of  an  essentially  religious  disposition, 
his  doubts  became  a  moral  torture  until  he  was  visited  by  the 
illumination  that  God  descended  like  a  dove  of  peace  upon  all 
who  put  their  simple  faith  in  Him.  Faith — that  was  all 
which  God  required  to  lift  His  creature  to  a  state  of  grace. 
Luther  largely  drew  his  convictions  on  this  point  from  the 
Epistles  of  his  hero  St.  Paul,  and  presently  published  them 
with  fervor  as  a  rediscovered  truth.  Such  they  hardly  were, 
for  faith  was  a  pillar  of  the  mediaeval  Church — let  the  readei 
to  assure  himself  examine  the  sacrament  of  penance;  but 
the  abundance  of  works  had  succeeded  in  covering  the  pillai 
until  it  was  almost  hidden  from  view  beneath  a  thick,  para- 
sitic growth.  By  emphasizing  faith  Luther  harked  back  to 
a  more  primitive  type  of  Christianity,  and  in  any  case  formu- 
lated the  doctrine  which  is  the  common  basis  of  all  Protes- 
tant churches. 

Again  let  it  be  said  that  Luther's  favorite  doctrine  of 
justification  by  faith  was  not  in  any  essential  disagreement 
with  the  teachings  of  the  Church.  The  view,  still  largely 
prevailing  among  Protestants,  that  the  Church  was  content 
to  prescribe  a  round  of  hollow  practices,  is  based  on  igno- 
rance. Nevertheless,  since  externals  were  overdone  in 
Luther's  day,  he  saw  fit  to  extol  faith  as  the  sole  door  to  sal- 
vation, and,  in  the  heat  of  quarrel,  derived  f«-om  this  primary 


To  the  Peace  of  Augsburg  {1555)  ^7 


position  a  number  of  consequences  which  the  Church  an- 
grily rejected.  Faith,  illuminating  personal  faith,  such  as 
Luther  urged,  implied  man's  direct  union  with  God  without 
the  mediation  of  a  priesthood.  But  the  whole  Church  rested 
on  the  conception  of  a  priestly  caste,  to  which  the  administra- 
tion of  the -sacraments,  the  accepted  means  of  salvation,  was 
intrusted.  Therefore  Luther's  teaching  of  faith  logically 
carried  with  it  an  attack  upon  the  clergy,  the  sacraments, 
and  the  works  which  the  sacraments  enjoined.  Priesthood, 
sacraments,  works,  are  the  names  of  the  positions  which 
the  Roman  Church  defends  with  all  its  might  in  the  Refor- 
mation Period,  while  faith  is  the  name  of  the  weapon  with 
which  Luther  and  his  followers  conduct  the  attack. 

Luther  was  still  far  from  seeing  all  these  consequences, 
he  was  still  exclusively  revolving  the  question  of  faith  in  his 
mind,  when  there  occurred  the  event  which  flung  him  into 
the  centre  of  the  world's  interest,  and  inaugurated  the  move- 
ment of  separation  from  the  Church  known  as  the  Reforma- 
tion. In  1 51 7  a  Dominican  friar,  Tetzel,  appeared  on  the 
confines  of  Saxony  to  sell  Indulgences,  and  Luther  came 
forward  to  protest  against  the  practice. 

We  have  seen  that  Indulgences  ^  were  letters  of  pardon   Corruption  in 
issued  by  the  Pope,  and  that  they  were  closely  associated   ^"^hindul- 
with  the  sacrament  of  penance.     The  reader  will  also  re-  gences. 
member  that  they  did  not  remit  the  sin  and  its  eternal  con- 
sequences, but  only  certain  temporal  penalties  which  were 
imposed  by  the  priest  and  had  to  be  gone  through  with  in  . 
this  world,  or  else  had  to  be  suffered  in  purgatory.     The 
fee  for  which  they  were  obtained  went  to  the  Pope,  but  the 
Pope  let  it  be  understood  that  he  would  devote  the  revenue 
to  some  Christian  end,  such  as  a  crusade  or  the  building  of 
churches.    However  that  may  be,  during  the  Renaissance,  at 
least,  a  large  part  was  diverted  to  other  channels,  and  was 

*  See  Chapter  III.,  p.  52. 


68  The  Reformation  in  Germany 


five  theses, 


generally  surmised  to  contribute  to  the  scandalous  luxury 
of  the  Roman  court. 
The  ninety-  The  protest  which  Luther  lodged  against  the  new  papal 

Indulgence  hawked  by  Tetzel  and  other  licensed  venders 
through  Germany  took  the  form  of  ninety-five  points  or 
theses,  which  he  proposed  to  argue,  in  the  academic  fashion 
of  the  time,  with  all  comers  in  a  public  debate.  He  wrote 
them  out  in  Latin,  and  nailed  them  to  the  door  of  the  castle 
church  of  Wittenberg  on  October  31,  151 7.  They  created 
an  immediate  sensation,  were  translated  into  German,  and 
known  in  a  few  weeks  throughout  the  land.  Their  immense 
popularity  can  only  be  accounted  for  on  the  ground  that 
the  abuse  in  connection  with  Indulgences  was  patent,  that  it 
offended  the  religious  sentiment  of  the  nation,  and,  above 
all,  that  the  feeling  was  becoming  more  and  more  general 
that  the  Pope  was  abusing  his  prerogative,  especially  by 
squeezing  undue  sums  out  of  the  people  for  merely  personal 
ends.^ 
Luther  is  When  Luther  published  his  protest  against  Indulgences 

open  reioit,        he  spokc  as  a  good  son  of  the  Church,  without  the  remotest 
is-'o-  idea  of  separating  from  it.     His  private  reflections  had  not 

yet  carried  him  so  far.  But  the  ninety-five  theses  loosed  a 
torrent  of  discussion,  by  the  irresistible  course  of  which 
Luther  was  hurried  from  loyal  criticism  to  open  revolt.  By 
1520  he  found  himself  hopelessly  at  variance  with  the  Church 
and  definitely  embarked  on  an  independent  course.     The 


1  During  the  half  century  preceding  the  appearance  of  Luther  signs  of 
a  growing  discontent  with  the  Papacy  were  accumulating  among  all  classes 
of  the  nation.  An  ofiScial  document  of  the  year  1510  contains  the  following 
complaints: 

"  That  the  better  benefices  and  higher  ofBces  are  reserved  for  the  cardinals 
and  chief  officials  of  the  papal  court.  Even  when  a  bishopric  is  several 
times  vacant  within  a  few  years,  the  Pope  demands  the  prompt  and  full 
payment  of  the  annates.  Churches  are  given  to  courtiers,  some  of  whom 
are  better  fitted  to  be  mule-drivers  than  pastors.  Old  Indulgences  are 
revoked  ^ind  new  ones  sold,  merely  to  raise  money.  Tithes  are  collected 
under  the  pretext  that  a  war  is  to  be  made  against  the  Turks,  etc." — Geb- 
hardt,  Gravamina  gegen  den  Romischen  Hof. 


i  \s  ^ 


B     R' 


Mr- 


:r^  j^. 


10^        Longitude 


I  ^  ErtleKiaslkal  Territories 

NOTE  TO  THE  STUDENT : 

1)  iMcute  the  territories  of  the  seven 
electors,  (indicated   by  stronger    colors). 

2)  Observe  tha'.  the  Burgundian 
territories,  which  fell  to  the  Hapsburgs 
by  the  marriage  of  Mary  of  Burgundy  to 
Maximilian,  embrace  largely  fiefs  of  the 
Germau  Crown.  3)  Note  extensive 
territories     held     by    Bishops     (purple). 

4)  Note  that  there  are  many  States  of 
the  Empire— largely  free  cities— too  small 
to  claim  a   place  on  a  map  of  this  scale, 

5)  Note  that  the  territories  at  t  h  e 
periplieries.  Savoy,  Milan,  SwisE  Con- 
federation, Netherlands,  etc.  had  already 

\T»e  M*TTHE^8-N0RTHRup  WORKS,  BurrALO.   prttctlcally  brokcn  away  from  the  Empire. 
16° 


To  the  Peace  of  Augsburg   {1555)  ^ 


three  years  from  151 7  to  1520  mark  the  crisis  of  his  move- 
ment of  protest,  when  there  was  still  a  prospect  that  dis- 
cussion would  lead  to  concession  and  turn  the  scales  in  favor 
of  Christian  unity.     Alas,  it  was  not  to  be,  and  all  for  reasons 
natural  enough!     Luther  was  a  man  of  energy,  amounting 
at  times  to  violence;  a  lion  when  aroused.     When  the  un- 
comprising  partisans  of  the  Church  attacked  him  personally, 
he  feverishly  searched  the  Scriptures  and  their  earliest  ex- 
pounders for  new  evidence,  and  soon  came  across  much 
matter  in  the  Church  besides  Indulgences  which  he  regarded 
as  open  to  question.     The  attitude  of  the  Pope,  Leo  X., 
was  typical  of  the  cultured  Italian  gentleman  of  the  Renais- 
sance; he  mildly  wondered  why  the  faithful  of  Germany 
were  growing  so  excited  over  a  purely  theological  issue. 
None  the  less  he  made  some  efforts  to  have  the  conflict 
hushed  up  by  negotiations.     But  his  agents  were  haughty 
and   unskillful,  and   when    in    1520   Luther  attacked  the 
prerogatives  of  the  clergy,  the  sacraments,  and  the  Pope 
himself,  in  a  series  of  three  fiery  pamphlets, ^  open  war  was 
declared.     The  Pope  now  resolved  to  crush  his  adversary  Luther  ex- 
without  mercy  and  issued  a  bull  of  excommunication  which  ^°^J^^""'ca     , 
declared  him  a  heretic.     The  document  was  equivalent  to 
an  order  to  the  civil  authorities  to  apprehend  him  and  put 
him  to  death.     But  Luther  was  now  past  the  point  of  fear. 
Amid  a  great  concourse  of  applauding  Wittenbergers  he 
consigned  the  bull  to  a  bonfire,  and  to  leave  no  doubt  as  to 
his  meaning  he  threw  in  the  books  of  the  canon  law,  which 
codified  all  the  extraordinary  privileges  of  the  mediaeval 
Church.     The  breach  was  complete.     It  remained  only  to 
be  seen  for  which  side  the  people  would  declare. 

Germany  had  iust  passed  through  the  throes  of  an  im-  Election  o£ 

^  i  ^  ^  Charles  V.  as 


'They  were:  Concerning  Christian  Uberty;  Address  to  the  Christian         P        .5  9- 
Nobility  of   the   German  Nation;  On  the  Babylonish  Captivity   of   the 
Church.     These  three  pamphlets  contain  the  gist  of  early  Protestantism. 
See  Wace  and  Buchheim,  Luther's  Primary  Works. 


70  The  Reformation  in  Germany 

perial  election.  In  January,  15 19,  the  Emperor  Maxi- 
milian had  been  gathered  to  his  fathers,  and  after  a  partic- 
ularly spirited  contest,  in  which  the  leading  sovereigns  of 
Europe  came  forward  as  candidates,  the  choice  of  the  seven 
electors  fell  upon  the  king  of  Spain,  who  assumed  the  office 
under  the  name  of  Emperor  Charles  V.  Charles  owed  his 
election  not  to  the  fact  that  he  was  king  of  Spain,  but  to 
his  being  the  head  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg  and  the  most 
powerful  prince  of  Germany.  In  the  3'ear  1520  he  left 
Spain  to  be  crowned  with  the  usual  elaborate  ceremony  at 
Aachen.  Then  he  called  a  Diet  at  the  city  of  Worms  on 
the  Rhine,  where  he  first  met  with  the  parliament  of  the 
German  nation.  There  were  many  matters  demanding 
attention,  but  all  were  overshadowed  in  importance  by 
the  conflict  raised  by  Luther.  The  Wittenberg  professor 
had  just  been  condemned  by  the  Pope.  It  behooved  the 
emperor  and  his  Diet  to  declare  what  course  they  would  take 
with  reference  to  the  papal  sentence. 
Charles  sum-  Charles  was  at  this  time  a  lad  of  twenty-one  years.     He 

to  his  presence,  had  passcd  his  life,  so  far,  in  the  Netherlands  and  in  Spain, 
where  he  had  been  brought  up  as  a  good  Catholic,  who  might 
now  and  then  criticise  the  abuses  in  the  Church,  but  who 
in  the  main  gave  it  an  unhesitating  allegiance.  Therefore 
he,  personally,  was  prepared  to  put  down  Luther.  But  there 
were  other  interests  necessary  to  consider.  So  large  a  sec- 
tion of  the  German  people  and  of  the  princes  themselves 
had  become  adherents  of  Luther,  that  to  condemn  him  un- 
heard might  raise  an  insurrection.  Accordingly,  Charles 
agreed  to  have  him  summoned  to  Worms  for  a  hearing,  imder 
a  special  pledge  of  safety.  Luther's  friends  besought  him 
not  to  walk  into  the  lion's  mouth,  reminding  him  of  the  fate 
of  Huss  at  Constance.  "I  would  go,  even  if  there  were  as 
many  devils  there  as  tiles  on  the  house  roofs,"  he  answered 
fearlessly.     On  April  17,  152 1,  he  appeared  before  the  Diet. 


To  the  Peace  of  Augsburg  {1555)  71 


The  scene  is  one  of  the  impressive  spectacles  of  history.  Luther  at 
The  simple  friar,  whose  life  had  been  largely  lived  in  seclu-  worms,  1*521 
sion,  stood  for  the  first  time  before  his  emperor,  who  sat  upon 
a  throne  encircled  by  a  brilliant  gathering  of  ambassadors, 
princes,  and  bishops.  As  he  let  his  eye  travel  over  the  faces 
of  the  throng,  he  encountered  all  gradations  of  expression, 
ranging  from  deep  devotion  to  indifference  and  fierce  hatred. 
He  was  urged  to  recant  the  heresies  he  had  uttered.  If  he 
had  yielded  he  might  have  won  forgiveness,  and  the  move- 
ment of  revolt  would  in  all  likelihood  have  come  to  an  end. 
But  he  insisted  that  he  should  be  proved  to  be  wrong  by 
the  words  of  Holy  Writ.  That  was  stating  the  crucial  issue; 
to  him  the  authority  of  the  Bible  on  the  points  of  belief 
which  he  had  raised  was  higher  than  the  authority  of  Pope 
and  Church.  "Here  I  stand,  I  cannot  do  otherwise.  God 
help  me,  Amen!  "  was  the  substance  of  his  concluding  speech. 
To  cow  this  man  was  out  of  the  question,  especially  as  Worms 
was  seething  with  his  followers.  Permitted  to  depart  as 
had  been  promised  him,  he  was  seized  on  the  highway  by 
servants  of  the  friendly  elector  Frederick  of  Saxony,  and 
carried  secretly  to  the  castle  of  the  Wartburg  in  the  Thurin- 
gian  forest.  There  let  him  lie  concealed,  was  the  thought  of 
his  protector,  until  the  crisis  be  over,  and  he  may  once  more 
show  himself  without  danger. 

Meanwhile  Charles  came  to  a  decision.  He  could  have  Luther  is 
no  sympathy  with  a  movement  which  threatened  the  unity  demne^.*^^'' 
of  the  Church.  Further,  his  attention  at  that  moment  was 
fixed  not  on  Germany  but  on  Italy,  where  the  position  of 
his  house  was  at  stake.  We  must  always  remember  that 
Charles  was  a  sovereign  with  interests  in  the  most  widely 
separated  regions,  in  Spain,  the  Netherlands,  Germany, 
Italy,  and  America.  In  Italy  the  king  of  France  had  lately 
seized  Milan,  and  Charles  was  resolved  to  oust  him  from 
that  vantage  point,  from  which  he  dominated  the  whole 


72 


The  Reformation  in  Germany 


The  Edict  of 
Worms,  1521. 


The  Edict  of 

Worms  is 

not  carried  out. 


Abandonment 
of  many 
features  of 
Catholicism. 


north  of  the  peninsula.  But  in  such  an  enterprise  the  papal 
alliance  would  prove  very  useful.  With  an  eye  to  the  help 
of  the  Pope  against  France,  Charles  resolved  to  strike  at 
Luther.  On  May  26, 1521,  he  published  the  Edict  of  Worms, 
by  which  the  heretic's  life  was  declared  forfeit  and  his 
writings  were  prohibited.  Having  thus  settled,  as  he  mis- 
takenly thought,  the  German  difficulties  with  the  stroke  of 
a  pen,  Charles  undertook  the  conquest  of  Italy. 

But  the  movement  of  the  Reformation  had  already  ac- 
quired too  great  a  momentum  to  be  stopped  by  an  imperial 
order.  If  Charles  could  have  remained  in  Germany  to  see 
personally  to  the  execution  of  his  decree  against  Luther,  or 
if  the  real  power  in  Germany  had  not  lain  with  the  princes, 
who,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  were  divided  in  their  sym- 
pathy, the  history  of  the  Reformation  might  have  been  dif- 
ferent. As  matters  stood,  Charles  was  absent  from  the  scene 
for  the  next  nine  years,  and  the  princes,  left  to  themselves, 
could  come  to  no  decisive  agreement.  Consequently  the  de- 
cree against  Luther  was  not  executed,  and  the  revolution,  en- 
couraged by  the  vacillation  of  the  government,  grew  so  strong 
that  it  soon  reached  the  point  where  it  could  defy  persecu- 
tion. 

Let  us  look  more  closely  into  what  was  happening  at  this 
time  in  the  religious  circles  of  Germany.  Luther's  opinions 
were  advancing  by  leaps  and  bounds,  and  enthusiastic 
communities  were  beginning  to  put  them  into  practice. 
They  involved  the  abandonment  of  many  of  the  most  famil- 
iar features  of  mediaeval  Christianity.  Monks  and  nuns  re- 
nounced their  vows,  resumed  their  places  in  society,  and  in 
many  cases  married;  Luther  himself  set  an  example  by 
wedding  Catharine  von  Bora,  a  former  nun.  The  monastic 
property  reverted  to  the  state,  that  is,  enriched  the  princes 
and  the  cities.  The  Pope  and  the  Roman  hierarchy  were  set 
aside  and  their  authority  denied.     Many  ancient  practices, 


To  the  Peace  of  Augsburg  {1555)  73 


such  as  Indulgerxes,  pilgrimages,  worship  of  Mary  and  the 
saints,  were  condemned  as  meaningless  and  misleading  works 
and  abandoned.  At  the  same  time  the  Church  service  was 
materially  changed.  German  was  substituted  for  Latin, 
and  the  Mass,  with  its  element  of  sacrifice,  was  declared 
idolatrous,  its  place  being  taken  by  a  much  simpler  service, 
consisting  of  song,  prayer,  and  sermon. 

With  such  ferment  of  opinion  possessing  the  whole  country.   Excesses  ot 

.     .  ,     ,  .,  ,         .  -11  1  i    therevolu- 

it  is  not  unnatural  that  wild  agitators  occasionally  caught  tionists. 
the  ear  of  the  masses.  In  fact  the  Reformation  was  not 
many  months  old  before  its  welfare  was  threatened  more  by 
its  own  extreme  elements  than  by  its  Catholic  opponents. 
Nobody  saw  this  more  clearly  than  Luther.  He  was  re- 
solved that  the  movement  should  travel  a  sure  road  and  at 
a  moderate  pace,  and  that  whoever  should  venture  to  com- 
promise it  by  extravagances  and  illusions,  or  whoever  should 
attempt  to  use  it  for  ends  other  than  those  of  the  religious 
reform  with  which  it  had  originated,  must  be  abruptly  ex- 
cluded from  his  party.  These  certainly  not  unwise  consid- 
erations explain  Luther's  attitude  toward  the  revolutions  of 
the  next  eventful  years. 

Luther  was  still  living  concealed  in  the  Wartburg,  where  Luther  follows 
he  was  turning  his  enforced  leisure  to  the  task  of  translating  course. 
the  Bible  into  German,  when  startling  things  occurred  in  the 
Saxon  capital  of  Wittenberg.  Radicals,  who  called  them- 
selves prophets  or  Anabaptists,  and  who  were  joined  by 
Carlstadt,  one  of  Luther's  own  colleagues  in  the  university, 
had  begun  to  preach  the  destruction  of  the  images  which 
adorned  the  Catholic  churches,  and  similar  acts  of  violence. 
Luther,  hearing  of  this  nefarious  propaganda,  abruptly  left 
the  Wartburg  and  appeared  among  his  flock  (1522).  His 
powerful  word  immediately  brought  his  people  back  to  order, 
and  the  "prophets"  fled. 

But  the  revolutionary  tendencies  aroused  by  Luther's  call 


74 


The  Reformatio7i  in  Germany 


Revolution  of 
the  Rhenish 
knights. 


The  serfdom 
of  the  peasants. 


The  great 
revolt, 

1524-25- 


to  spiritual  freedom  were  already  spreading  like  wildfire. 
The  petty  knights  of  the  Rhine  region,  who  were  dissatisfied 
with  their  political  condition  because  they  were  in  danger  of 
being  swallowed  up  by  their  more  powerful  neighbors,  the 
larger  princes,  resolved  to  make  use  of  the  disturbed  state  of 
affairs  by  rising  in  revolution.  They  were  put  down  after 
a  short  war  (1522-23),  and  henceforth  lost  all  significance 
as  an  order.  But  a  far  greater  disturbance  followed  in  the 
rising  of  the  peasants.  Since  the  Church  was  being  success- 
fully reformed,  why  should  not  society  and  the  state,  which 
were  no  less  cankered  than  the  Church,  be  reformed  too? 

That  the  peasants  should  have  asked  themselves  this 
question  was  only  natural  in  view  of  their  extremely  miser- 
able lot.  They  were  for  the  most  part  serfs,  which  means 
that  they  were  attached  to  the  soil  and  were  better  than 
slaves  only  in  that  they  could  not  be  bought  and  sold,  and 
were  protected  by  a  few  traditional  rights.  But  under  the 
influence  of  the  Roman  law,  which  was  steadily  gaining 
ground  with  the  revival  of  classical  antiquity,  their  few  re- 
maining rights  were  vanishing,  and  their  condition  was  grow- 
ing steadily  worse.  Since  they  were  a  sturdy  folk  at  heart, 
among  whom  the  memories  of  former  liberties  persisted,  a 
sense  of  injustice  tormented  them,  and  had  already  in  the 
fifteenth  century  led  to  occasional  risings.  Now,  in  the  six- 
teenth century,  came  the  call  of  Luther  to  religious  freedom; 
sounding  like  a  trumpet  through  the  land.  Even  without 
Luther  they  were  ready  to  strike  down  the  land-owning  no- 
bles and  abbots  who  oppressed  them.  With  Luther  as  a 
prospective  ally  they  were  no  longer  to  be  kept  in  leash. 

In  the  year  1524  they  rose,  first  near  the  border  of  Switz- 
erland; but  with  surprising  rapidity  the  movement  ate  its 
fiery  course  northward  into  the  heart  of  Germany.  All 
lawless  elements,  including  the  so-called  prophets  of  Witten- 
berg, crowded  to  the  standards  of  the  peasants.     Their  bands 


To  the  Peace  of  Augsburg  {iJSS)  75 


patrolled  the  country-sides,  invaded  the  hated  castles  and 
monasteries,  burned  them,  and  butchered  their  inmates.  It 
is  true  there  was  a  moderate  section  which  put  forward 
a  sensible  programme,  called  the  twelve  articles  formu- 
lating the  practicable  demands  of  the  insurgents.  These 
were  to  have  certain  vexatious  personal  services  due  to  the 
lord  and  his  family,  abolished,  and  the  meadows,  woods,  and 
streams,  which  had  once  belonged  to  the  villagers  in  common, 
but  had  since  been  seized  by  the  lords,  restored  to  their  for- 
mer owners.  Nevertheless,  passion  got  the  better  of  reason, 
and  everv  night  the  fierce  glare  of  the  sky  renewed  the  tale 
of  ruined  castles  and  abbeys.  As  usual,  the  central  gov- 
ernment was  incapable  of  taking  action,  but  the  local  au- 
thorities, that  is,  the  princes,  got  together  an  army  and  in 
the  spring  of  1525  scattered  the  disorganized  bands  of  the 
peasants  to  the  winds.  Hounded  on  by  Luther  in  coarse 
pamphlets,  the  victors  crowned  their  successes  by  a  hideous 
massacre  of  the  poor  fugitives.  That  Luther,  who  was  a 
peasant  himself,  and  had  frequently  declared  his  sympathy 
with  his  lowly  brethren,  should  have  veered  to  the  other  side 
has  subjected  him  to  much  criticism.  It  is  not  possible  to  Luther  side? 
palliate  the  brutality  of  his  language,  but  a  word  may  be  ponces! 
said  for  the  consistency  of  his  conduct.  He  had  declared 
over  and  over  again,  by  word  and  by  deed,  that  he  stood  for 
religious  reform  and  would  not  permit  his  cause  to  be  com- 
promised by  political  agitation.  Let  the  cause  of  reform 
be  confused  in  people's  minds  with  social  anarchy,  and  the 
conservative  elements  would  be  frightened  away,  and  Rome 
be  triumphant.  For  this  reason  he  had  challenged  the  Wit- 
tenberg prophets;  for  the  same  reason,  though  much  more 
reluctantly,  he  turned  his  back  upon  the  peasants. 

While  Germany  was  seething  with  revolution,  Charles  V.   The  wars  of 
was  wholly  engaged  with  the  war  against  France.     In  fact,   spain. 
the  wars  with  France  continued  throughout  his  reign  and 


7(^ 


The  Reformation  hi  Gerjuany 


The  first  war; 
battle  of 
Pavia. 


The  second 
war  and  sack 
of  Rome, 
1527- 


Charles 

crowned 

emperor. 


prevented  him  from  ever  giving  his  full  attention  to  the 
German  Reformation.  There  were  altogether  four  wars, 
covering  the  following  periods:  ist  war,  1521-26;  2d  war, 
1527-29;  j:d  war,  1536-38;  4th  war,  1542-44- 

The  first  war  ended  with  the  signal  triumph  of  Charles. 
Charles's  general  defeated  the  French  army  at  Pavia  in  Italy 
(1525)  and  took  the  king  of  France  himself,  Francis  I.,  cap- 
tive. "AH  is  lost  save  honor,"  was  the  laconic  message  which 
the  French  sovereign,  celebrated  as  the  mirror  of  chivalry, 
sent  his  mother  at  Paris.  Charles  had  his  royal  prisoner 
transported  to  Madrid  and  there  he  wrung  from  him  a  peace 
(1526),  by  which  Francis  ceded  all  claims  to  Italy  and  parts 
of  France  itself  (Burgundy  and  the  suzerainty  of  Axtois)  to 
Charles. 

But  hardly  had  Francis  regained  his  liberty  when  he 
hastened  to  renew  the  war.  Charles  had  overstrained  the 
bow.  Francis  could  buy  peace  by  the  cession  to  his  enemy 
of  Milan,  a  foreign  conquest,  but  as  long  as  there  was  life 
in  France  her  king  could  not  grant  nor  could  she  accept 
a  partition  of  her  territory.  The  Pope  and  Henry  \TII.  of 
England,  who  had  hitherto  favored  Charles  in  the  struggle 
between  France  and  Spain,  now  went  over  to  Francis  from 
fear  that  the  emperor  was  striving  for  supremacy  in  Europe. 
The  most  noteworthy  incident  of  the  second  war  was  the 
sack  of  Rome  (1527).  The  great  French  nobleman,  the 
duke  of  Bourbon,  who  had  turned  traitor  and  had  been  put 
by  Charles  at  the  head  of  a  mixed  troop  of  Spaniards  and 
of  German  Protestants,  was  ordered  to  march  against  the 
Pope  for  the  purpose  of  punishing  him  for  his  alliance  with 
Francis.  At  the  moment  at  which  the  walls  of  the  papal 
capital  were  scaled  Bourbon  fell,  and  the  rabble  soldiery, 
left  without  a  master,  put  Rome  to  a  frightful  pillage. 

Although  the  advantage  in  the  second  as  in  the  first  war 
remained  with  Charles,  he  offered  Francis  somewhat  more 


To  the  Peace  of  Augsburg  {1555)  77 


acceptable  terms  (temporary  retention  by  Francis  of  Bur- 
gundy) in  new  negotiations,  which  ended  in  the  so-called 
Ladies'  Peace  of  Cambray  (1529).  After  the  peace  Charles 
had  himself  crowned  emperor  at  Bologna  (1530),  and  fig- 
ures in  history  as  the  last  emperor  who  was  willing  to  take 
so  much  trouble  for  an  empty  title. 

Charles,  temporarily  rid  of  France,  was  now  resolved  to  Charles  returns 
look  once  more  into  German  affairs.  In  1530,  after  an  ab-  The  Diet  of 
sence  of  almost  ten  years,  he  again  turned  his  face  north-  Augsburg, 
ward.  The  Reformation  was  by  this  time  an  accomplished 
fact,  but  Charles,  who  during  his  absence  had  received  his 
information  from  Catholic  partisans  and  through  hearsay, 
still  inclined,  as  at  Worms,  to  treat  it  as  a  trifle.  He  was 
destined  to  be  rudely  awakened.  A  Diet  had  been  called 
to  meet  him  at  the  city  of  Augsburg,  and  at  the  summons  a 
brilliant  assembly  of  both  Lutheran  and  Catholic  princes 
came  together.  Their  sessions  turned  chiefly  around  the 
question  whether  or  no  the  Edict  of  Worms  of  152 1  should  be 
at  last  executed.  Unquestionably  the  Edict  was  part  of  the 
law  of  the  land,  and  unquestionably  its  execution  meant  the 
death  of  Luther  and  the  end  of  the  young  church  which  had 
grown  up  around  him.  Naturally  the  Lutherans  made  a 
supreme  effort  to  vindicate  themselves.  They  requested 
Melanchthon,  a  gentle  soul  and  profound  scholar,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  bosom  friend  of  Luther,  to  draw  up  for  the 
emperor's  perusal  a  statement  of  the  Lutheran  position. 
The  document,  on  being  published,  became  known  under 
the  name  of  the  Confession  of  Augsburg,  and  constitutes  TheConfes- 
substantially  the  creed  of  the  Lutheran  Church  to  this  day.  Augsburg. 
But  the  emperor  was  not  to  be  persuaded.  If  he  had  thus  far 
treated  the  Reformation  in  a  hesitating  manner,  that  was 
partly  because  he  had  made  the  mistake  of  underestimating 
it,  and  partly  because  he  had  not  been  averse  to  frightening 
the  Pope  a  little,  who,  even  when  he  was  not  his  open  enemy, 


78 


The  Reformation  in  Germany 


Civil  war 
adjcurned  by 
the  Turkish 
danger. 


was  never  his  sincere  friend.  But  he  had  just  made  his  peace 
with  the  Pope,  and  even  before  coming  to  Germany  had 
indicated  from  what  quarter  the  wind  now  blew  by  ordering 
the  Diet  of  Spires,  in  1529,  to  take  back  certain  former  con- 
cessions  to  the  innovators,  and  once  more  to  insist  on  the  full 
execution  of  the  Edict  of  Worms.  Against  this  step  the 
Lutheran  members  of  the  Diet  had  lodged  a  formal  protest, 
which  had  won  them  the  epithet,  destined  to  become  world- 
famous,  of  Protestants.  Thus  Charles  was  committed  to 
a  policy  before  ever  he  came  to  Augsburg.  The  hearing 
granted  to  the  Protestants  partook  largely  of  the  nature  of  a 
prearranged  comedy,  upon  which,  when  it  had  lasted  long 
enough,  he  rang  down  the  curtain,  and  announced  his  deci- 
sion. In  the  matter  of  the  religious  innovations,  the  con- 
cluding protocol  declared  that  everybody  must  abandon 
them  within  six  months,  or  suffer  the  consequences.  The 
bold  challenge  drove  the  Protestants  to  concert  measures 
for  defence.  They  met  at  the  little  town  of  Smalkald  and 
organized  a  league  for  mutual  protection  (1531). 

Both  sides  now  stood  opposed  to  each  other,  ready  for 
action;  but  just  as  civil  war  seemed  to  have  become  inevi- 
table, the  news  reached  Germany  that  the  Turks  were  about 
to  attack  Vienna.  The  Turks  had  already  carried  the  terror 
of  their  name  into  eastern  Germany  two  years  before.  In 
face  of  a  danger  threatening  all  alike,  the  civil  struggle  had, 
of  course,  to  be  postponed.  In  an  agreement  which  Charles 
signed  with  the  Protestants  at  Nuremberg  (1532),  he  under- 
took to  adjourn  his  measures  against  his  opponents  until  a 
General  Council  of  the  Church  had  met  to  decide  the  doc- 
trinal points  in  dispute,  and  he  was  thus  enaliled  to  march 
against  the  Turks  at  the  head  of  a  brilliant  army  represent- 
ing united  Germany.  Before  this  display  of  force  the  Turks 
fell  back.  On  his  return  Charles  found  other  things  to  do 
than  fight  the  German  Protestants.     The  Mohammedan 


To  the  Peace  of  Augsburg  (iSSS)  79 


pirates  of  the  north  coast  of  Africa,  who  were  engaged  in 
destroying  the  European  commerce,  urgently  demanded  his 
attention.  For  the  next  few  years  he  gave  his  time  to  the 
destruction  of  their  strongholds  in  Tunis  and  Tripoli,  and 
thus  the  suppression  of  Protestantism  in  Germany  was  again 
postponed.  To  Charles  all  this  must  have  been  hard  to 
bear.  The  French,  the  Turks,  and  the  African  pirates  were 
among  them  keeping  his  hands  full,  and  were  always  inter- 
cepting his  arm  at  the  very  moment  at  which  he  was  about 
to  draw  his  sword  against  the  Protestant  revolution. 

On  his  return  from  Africa  there  broke  out  a  third  war   New  wars. 
with  Francis  I.  of  France  (1536-38),  only  to  be  succeeded  by  tween  FrancU 
the  fourth  and  last  (1542-44),  which  was  concluded  by  the  ^u£^^ 
Peace  of  Crespy.     In  this  peace  Charles  definitely  gave  up 
his  claim  to  Burgundy,  and  in  return  was  ccnfirmed  in  his 
mastery  of  the  much-prized  Italian  peninsula.     But  the  most 
striking  feature  of  these  last  two  wars,  a  feature  which  among 
contemporary  Europeans  caused  an  unspeakable  surprise, 
was  the  alliance  which  Francis  concluded  against  Charles 
with  Soliman  the  Magnificent,  the  Turkish  Sultan.     It  fur- 
nished fresh  evidence  of  the  broadening  of  life  efi'ected  by 
the  Renaissance.     As  the  traders  and  discoverers  had  burst 
the  narrow  barriers  of  the   Mediterranean,   so  European 
diplomacy  henceforth  would  not  hesitate  to  draw  Asiatics 
and  infidels  into  its  game. 

The  Peace  of  Crespy  set  Charles  free  to  try  once  more  to  Charles  faik 
eradicate  the  German  heresy.     He  had  staked  his  life  upon  heresy  by  a 
destroying  it,  but  had  been  thwarted  in  every  attempt.     As   p^^^'^n 
early  as  1521,  in  the  Edict  of  Worms,  he  had  announced  his 
settled  policy.     But  circumstances  like  the  French  wars, 
as  well  as  a  certain  statesmanlike  reluctance  to  proceed 
to  force,  had  intervened  to  restrain  him  from  carrying  it  out. 
Then,  later,  with  the  Peace  of  Nuremberg  (1532),  he  had 
committed  himself  to  the  policy  of  reconciliation  through  a 


8o  The  Reformation  in  Germany 

General  Council  of  the  Church.  A  General  Council  could 
be  summoned  only  with  the  consent  of  the  Pope,  who  had 
thus  far  sullenly  refused  to  issue  a  call.  At  last,  in  1545,  Paul 
III.  yielded  to  Charles's  solicitations  and  summoned  the  fa- 
mous Council  of  Trent.  But  the  favorable  moment  had 
passed.  The  Protestants,  who  had  gone  too  far  on  the  path 
of  separation  to  retreat,  would  no  longer  submit  to  it,  and 
Charles  had  to  acknowledge  that  he  was  at  the  end  of  his 
tether.  Turn  as  he  would,  there  was  only  one  way  left  to 
crush  the  Protestants,  and  that  was  by  war.  So  Charles, 
whose  aversion  to  heresy  and  schism  was  unaltered,  drew 
his  sword,  and  precipitated  the  first  German  civil  war  over 
the  issue  of  religion. 
Death  of  Just  before  the  outbreak  of  hostilities,  on  February  18, 

Luther,  1546.  ^^^^^  Luther,  whose  word  had  raised  the  tempest,  died. 
He  was  spared  the  final  pain  of  seeing  his  countrymen  in 
arms  against  each  other,  largely  on  his  account.  Certainh 
his  character  had  many  grievous  flaws,  but  in  looking  back- 
ward over  his  life  they  disappear  in  the  strong  light  shed  by 
his  honesty,  simplicity,  and  unflinching  courage.  If  he  has 
become  dear  to  the  German  people  and  to  the  Protestant 
world  in  general,  it  is  not  only  because  he  originated  a  relig- 
ious movement  which  has  become  an  incalculable  factor  in 
the  history  of  modern  times,  but  also  because  his  large,  hale 
figure,  seated  at  the  family  board  and  surrounded  by  a  circle 
of  fresh  young  faces,  breathes  a  broad  sympathy  and  hu- 
manity. 
The  first  war  The  first  war  of  religion  in  Germany,  called  also,  from  the 

Germany! '"  name  of  the  league  of  Protestant  princes,  the  war  of  Smal- 
kald,  broke  out  in  the  year  of  Luther's  death  (1546).  The 
Protestant  forces,  commanded  by  the  foremost  Protestant 
princes,  John  Frederick  of  Saxony  and  Philip  of  Hesse,  acted 
without  a  plan.  Charles,  advancing  with  concentrated  en- 
ergy, ended  the  war  with  one  stroke  at  the  battle  of  Miihl- 


To  the  Peace  of  Augshtirg  (iSSS)  ^^ 

berg  (1547),  where  the  leading  Protestant  prince,  the  elector 
of  Saxony,  was  taken  prisoner.  The  triumph  of  the  em- 
peror was  in  no  small  measure  due  to  the  treachery  of  a 
Protestant  relative  of  the  elector,  Maurice  of  Saxony. 
Maurice  was  a  capable,  unscrupulous  man,  who  for  the  price 
of  the  electorate  of  his  relative  lent  Charles  his  aid.  The 
price  once  paid,  he  remembered  that  he,  too,  was  a  Protestant, 
and  gradually  cutting  loose  from  the  emperor  prepared  to 
undo  the  consequences  of  the  victory  of  Muhlberg. 

Charles,  after  the  victory  of  Muhlberg,  which  had  ended  The  Interim, 
with  the  complete  submission  of  the  Protestants,  undertook 
to  reestablish  the  unity  of  the  Church.  There  should  be 
but  one  faith;  so  much  he  was  firmly  resolved  on.  But  he 
clearly  saw  also  that  it  would  be  the  part  of  wisdom  to  proceed 
not  too  precipitately.  He  therefore  did  not  force  the  Prot- 
estants back  into  the  Church  without  delay,  but  declared 
himself  content  if  they  would  accept  a  temporary  measure 
called  the  Interim,  which,  although  Catholic  in  spirit, 
granted  them  certain  concessions  until  the  Council  of  Trent 
had  definitely  pronounced  upon  the  points  in  dispute.  The 
Protestant  world  felt  with  consternation  that  in  this  half-way 
measure  lay  the  beginning  of  the  end.  An  increasing  dis-  General  ris- 
content  grew  soon  to  a  revolutionary  enthusiasm,  and  when  Protestants. 
Maurice  of  Saxony  came  back  to  his  coreligionists,  Germany 
suddenly  rose,  and  Charles  found  himself  confronted  by  a 
united  demonstration  (1552).  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
he  was  taken  by  surprise.  Maurice,  his  chief  opponent  now, 
as  a  few  years  before  he  had  been  his  chief  ally,  might  even 
have  taken  him  captive.  "  I  have  no  cage  for  so  fine  a  bird," 
he  is  reported  to  have  said.  So  the  emperor  escaped.  But 
his  life-long  war  against  the  Lutheran  heresy  had  come  to 
an  end.  Broken  by  defeat,  but  too  proud  to  acknowledge 
it,  he  empowered  his  brother  Ferdinand  to  sign  the  truce  of 
Passau  (1.S52)  with  the  Protestants.     At  the  Diet  of  Augs- 


82 


The  Reformation  in  Germany 


The  Peace  of 

Augsburg, 

1555- 


The  Eccle- 
siastical Reser- 
vation. 


burg,  in  the  year  1555,  the  arrangements  of  Passau  were 
replaced  by  a  definitive  treaty,  known  as  the  Religious 
Peace  of  Augsburg. 

The  main  significance  of  the  Peace  of  Augsburg  lies  in  the 
fact  that  the  mediaeval  idea  of  the  unity  of  the  Christian 
Church  was  therein  officially  abandoned,  and  Lutheran  ism 
granted  legal  recognition  as  a  separate  faith.  But  the 
interest  of  the  document  does  not  cease  here.  Since  the 
central  government  had  failed  to  carry  through  its  religious 
policy,  it  was  stipulated  that  religion  should  henceforth  be 
treated  as  a  local  matter,  that  is,  the  local  governments, 
being  the  princes  and  the  cities,  should  be  permitted  to  choose 
between  Catholicism  and  Lutheranism.  This  principle 
was  expressed  in  the  Latin  phrase,  cuius  regie  ejus  religio, 
meaning  that  religion  is  an  affair  of  the  lord  of  the  territory. 
Under  this  system  the  prince  who  chose  Protestantism  could 
eject  all  Catholics  from  his  state,  and  vice  versa.  This  is 
not  what  we  would  call  religious  toleration,  since  it  gave  the 
right  of  choice  to  princes  and  not  to  individuals;  but  in- 
dividual toleration  seemed  as  yet  a  dangerous  idea,  to  which 
the  world,  as  in  the  case  of  every  valuable  acquisition  made 
by  the  race,  would  have  to  grow  accustomed  by  slow  degrees. 

Such  are  the  chief  provisions  of  the  Peace  of  Augsburg. 
But  there  was  another  article  which,  as  it  became  the  fruitful 
mother  of  confusion,  deserves  close  attention.  It  was  in- 
serted in  favor  of  the  old  Church,  and  is  called  the  Ecclesi- 
astical Reservation.  There  were  in  Germany  many  bishops 
who  were  not  only  heads  of  dioceses,  but  who  also  ruled  con- 
siderable territories  as  temporal  lords.  Since  they  exercised 
both  lay  and  spiritual  functions,  they  are  properly  designated 
as  prince-bishops.  It  was  laid  down  in  the  Ecclesiastical 
Reservation  that  to  these  prince-bishops  the  free  choice 
between  Catholicism  and  Protestantism  accorded  to  lay 
princes  should  not  extend.    They  were  indeed  to  be  per- 


To  the  Peace  of  Augsburg  {iS55)  83 

mitted  to  elect  Protestantism  for  themselves,  but  they  were 
obliged  in  that  case  to  resign  their  sees,  and  Catholic  suc- 
cessors would  have  to  be  chosen  in  their  places.  In  essence 
this  article  was  a  guarantee  that  the  lands  of  the  bishops 
should  remain  forever  and  ever  in  the  hands  of  the  old 
Church,  and,  though  the  Lutherans  protested,  the  article  was 
incorporated  in  the  Peace  of  Augsburg  and  became  the  law 
of  the  land.  As  might  have  been  foreseen,  difficulties  almost 
immediately  arose.  It  was  found  that  in  practice  the  ar- 
ticle could  not  be  kept,  for  many  bishoprics,  following  the 
trend  of  the  day,  soon  fell  into  Protestant  hands,  and  out 
of  the  ensuing  recriminations  developed  in  time  another  and 
a  much  more  serious  civil  war. 

The  victory  of  the   Protestants  over  the  emperor  was   Henry  II.  of 
not  purchased  without  a  heavy  loss  for  Germany.     Maurice   quers  the  three 
of  Saxony  had  found  it  necessary,  in  order  to  make  sure  of   bishoprics. 
victor}',  to  ally  himself  with  Henry  II.  of  France,  and  in  the 
same  year  (1552)  in  which  Maurice  drove  the  emperor  over 
the  Alps  Henry  II.  invaded  Germany  and   occupied   the 
bishoprics  of  Metz,  Toul,  and  Verdun.     Although  Charles 
laid  siege  to  Metz  immediately  upon  the  reestablishment  of 
peace  with  the  Protestants,  the  French  were  able  to  beat 
him  off  and  retain  possession  of  their  conquests.     This  in- 
cident opens  the  long  and  troublesome  story  of  the  border 
conflicts  between  France  and  Germany  which  accompany 
the  history  of  these  two  nations  throughout  the  Modern 
Age. 

The  emperor,  whose  life  was  worn  out  with  his  long  Abdication  of 
conflicts  and  labors,  could  not  recover  from  the  blow  of  D^vIsTon^of'the 
these  last  disasters.     He  abdicated  his  crown  (iqc;6)  and  Hapsburg 

^   ^-J   '  dominions. 

retired  to  the  monastery  of  San  Yuste  in  Spain,  where  he 
died  two  years  later.  Hardly  in  the  history  of  the  world 
has  so  proud  a  life  set  so  humbly.  Upon  his  abdication 
the  vast  Hapsburg  possessions,  which  he  had  held  in  his 


84  Th  '  Reformation  in  Germany 


sole  hand,  were  <livided.  His  son  Philip  got  Spain  (with 
her  colonies),  the  Italian  territory  (Naples  and  Milan),  and 
the  Netherlands.  His  brother  Ferdinand  got  the  Austrian 
lands  and  therewith  the  imperial  crown.  Henceforth  until 
the  extinction  of  the  '.Spanish  line  (i^oo)  we  have  in  Europe 
a  Spanish  and  an  if^wVvif.n  braf  V'  of  the  great  House  of 
Hapsburg. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  PROGRESS   OF  THE  REFORMATION  IN   EUROPE   AND  THE 
COUNTER-REFORMATION   OF   THE   CATHOLIC   CHJRCH 

References:  Johnson,  Europe  in  the  Sixteenth  Century, 
pp.  201-3  (Zwingli),  Chapter  VI.  (Calvin  and  the 
Counter-Reformation);  Fisher,  History  of  the  Refor- 
mation, Chapter  V.  (Zwingli),  Chapter  VI.  (Scandi- 
navian Reformation),  Chapter  VII.  (Calvin),  Chapter 
XL  (Counter-Reformation);  Jackson,  Zwingli;  Cam- 
bridge Modern  History,  Vol.  II.,  Chapter  X.  (Switz- 
erland), Chapter  XI.  (Calvin),  Chapter  XVII.  (Scandi- 
navia), Chapter  XVIII.  (Reform  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church);  Parkman,  Jesuits  in  America,  Vol.  I.,  Chap- 
ters IL,  X.;  Hughes,  Loyola;  Walker,  Calvin. 

Source  Readings:  The  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
Translations  and  Reprints,  Vol.  II. ,  No.  6  (extracts 
from  Decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent);  Vol.  HI.,  No.  3 
(Calvin's  Catechism,  Predestination,  etc.);  Jackson, 
Selected  Works  of  Zwingli;  Robinson,  Readings,  Vol. 
IL,  Chapter  XXVII.  (Zwingli,  Calvin),  Chapter 
XXVIII.   (Trent,  Jesuits). 

The  Protestant  movement  spread  rapidly  from  Ger-  The  spread  of 
many  over  the  Teutonic  north,  and  even  invaded  southern 
Europe,  making  inroads  upon  France,  Italy,  and  Spain. 
It  met  with  opposition  everywhere;  sometimes  it  was  sup- 
pressed, sometimes  it  forced  the  governments  to  come  to 
terms  with  it;  but  wherever  it  raised  its  head  its  original 
form  was  modified  more  or  less  by  the  character  of  the 
people  among  whom  it  appeared,  and  by  the  local  circum- 
stances. 

85 


86     The  Progress  of  the  Reformation  i?i  Europe 

Denmark,  The  success  of  the  Reformation  was  most  complete  and 

Sweden  accept  rapid  in  the  Scandinavian  north.  Denmark,  Norway,  and 
Lutheramsm.  Sweden,  the  three  Scandinavian  powers,  had  been  vmited 
under  one  king  since  the  Union  of  Calmar  (1397).  At 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  Union  fell  apart, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  Sweden  put  an  end  to  a  discontent  of 
long  standing  by  reclaiming  her  independence.  Under  the 
powerful  leadership  of  a  member  of  the  nobility,  Gustavus 
Vasa,  who  in  1523  was  empowered  by  the  people  to  assume 
the  title  of  king,  she  achieved  her  desire.  Gustavus  Vasa 
became  the  founder  of  a  long  and  important  line  of  sovereigns. 
Denmark  and  Norway,  however,  remained  united,  under  a 
Danish  king,  down  to  the  time  of  Napoleon.  The  political 
confusion  that  was  occasioned  in  Scandinavia  by  the  struggle 
of  Sweden  for  independence  favored  the  religious  innova- 
tions. Within  twenty  years  after  Luther's  proclamation 
against  Indulgences  (1517),  Catholicism  had  been  formally 
done  away  with,  and  Lutheranism  been  accepted  as  the  sole 
faith  of  all  the  Scandinavian  countries.  The  north  produced 
no  great  reformer  of  its  own,  and  therefore  accepted  the 
creed  of  its  nearest  neighbor,  Germany. 
Origin  of  Turning   next   to   Switzerland,   we   take   note   that   this 

pendence.  country  had,  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  very 

nearly  acquired  its  present  extent.  It  was  in  the  Middle 
Ages  a  part  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  that  is,  of  Germany. 
But  certain  valleys  of  the  Alpine  uplands  began  at  an  earlj 
date  to  go  their  own  way,  to  be  joined  presently  by  neigh- 
boring valleys.  The  interesting  story  of  these  beginnings 
takes  us  to  the  picturesque  lake  of  Lucerne,  lying  beneath 
the  shadow  of  the  three  small  Alpine  cantons  of  Schwyz, 
Uri,  and  Unterwalden.  In  1291  these  three  districts  formed 
an  alliance  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  each  other  against 
the  aggressions  of  the  neighboring  counts  of  Hapsburg. 
Again  and  again  the  counts  led  their  brilliant  host  of  knights 


Counter-Reformation  of  the  Catholic  Church     87 

against  the  hardy  mountaineers,  who  fought  on  foot,  armed 
with  such  imperfect  weapons  as  came  to  hand.  The  feudal 
onslaught  was  in  vain.  The  scales  of  fate  steadily  inclined 
in  favor  of  the  lowly  sons  of  the  soil,  and  their  victory  was 
presently  crystallized  by  the  ever-active  poetic  instinct  of 
man  into  patriotic  legends  around  the  names  of  William  Tell 
and  Arnold  Winkelried.  As  late  as  the  time  of  Emperor 
Maximilian  the  counts  of  Hapsburg,  who  had  waxed  great 
and  acquired  the  imperial  dignity,  retained  the  hope  of  bring- 
ing the  obstinate  peasants  once  more  under  their  authority. 
In  the  year  1499  Maximilian  levied  war  upon  them,  but  when 
he,  too,  like  his  forefathers,  was  defeated,  the  attempt  at 
subjugation  was  given  up,  and  the  Swiss  cantons  became 
virtually  independent,  not  only  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg, 
but  also  of  the  Empire. 

Meanwhile  the  original  three  cantons  had  been  strength-  Switzerland  a 
ened  by  gradual  accession  from  their  neighbors.  By  the  ation. 
time  the  Hapsburgs  made  their  last  effort,  in  1499,  seven 
more  cantons  had  been  added  to  the  original  league,  together 
with  a  number  of  outlying  districts,  bound  to  the  Confedera- 
tion by  more  or  less  strict  articles  of  adhesion.  Nevertheless, 
the  union  left  much  to  be  desired.  Every  canton  remained 
practically  an  independent  little  republic,  and  the  central 
government,  which  consisted  of  a  Diet  composed  of  dele- 
gates from  the  cantons,  had  hardly  any  other  power  than 
the  right  to  concert  common  measures  of  defence.  From 
the  time  of  its  origin  to  well  into  the  nineteenth  century 
Switzerland  furnished  an  excellent  example  of  a  loose  con- 
federation of  sovereign  or  almost  sovereign  states. 

This  weak  union  was  exposed  to  a  severe  test  when  the  Zwingli. 
Reformation  carried   its  conflicts  and  confusion   into  the   rc^ormtfr! 
Confederation.     The  champion  of  the  movement  in  Switz- 
erland was  Ulrich  Zwingli.     Throughout  his  life  he  main- 
tained with  conviction  and  much  show  of  reason  that  his 


88     The  Progress  of  the  Reformation  in  Europe 


Zwingli, 
humanist  and 
democrat. 


Differences  in 
the  ideals  of 
Luther  and 
Zwmgli. 


ideas  were  his  own,  and  had  not  been  borrowed  from  Luther; 
still  it  may  be  doubted  if  he  would  ever  have  made  much  stir 
if  it  had  not  been  for  the  larger  movement  set  afoot  by  the 
Saxon  reformer. 

Zwingli  was  only  a  few  weeks  younger  than  Luther,  hav- 
ing been  bom  in  the  village  of  Wildhaus,  near  St.  Gall,  in 
January,  1484.  He  came  of  an  influential  family,  received 
a  careful  schooling,  and  in  due  time  attended  the  university, 
where  he  was  strongly  impregnated  with  the  current  human- 
istic thought.  In  1506  he  was  ordained  a  priest,  and  was 
called  to  his  first  charge  at  Glarus.  As  the  outer  circum- 
stances of  his  life  were  much  happier  than  Luther's,  so  he 
seems  to  have  grown  up  without  any  of  those  inner  crises 
that  make  Luther's  youth  such  a  troubled  season  of  storm 
and  stress.  In  his  capacity  of  free-bom  Swiss  he  became 
acquainted  early  with  the  workings  of  a  democratic  city 
republic  and  imbued  with  that  virile  patriotism  which  is 
the  product  of  political  responsibility.  These  are  the  in- 
fluences which  determined  Zwingli's  life  and  shaped  his 
labors.  They  explain  why  he  approached  the  criticism  of 
the  Church  by  the  path  of  the  Erasmian  humanism,  and 
also  make  clear  why,  when  he  had  been  pushed  beyond  the 
position  of  Erasmus  to  a  complete  separation  from  Rome, 
he  advocated  an  ecclesiastical  reorganization  which  hence- 
forth should  subject  religion  to  the  democratic  control  of 
the  civil  authorities.  Luther,  too,  had  placed  his  Church 
under  the  guidance  of  the  civil  powers,  but  since  the  civil 
powers  in  Germany  were,  speaking  generally,  the  princes, 
the  Lutheran  Church  acquired  a  distinctly  autocratic  char- 
acter. Zwingli,  the  Swiss  republican,  not  only  felt  impelled 
to  carry  the  idea  of  democracy  into  the  Church,  but  also  re- 
tained a  firm  belief  in  the  political  wisdom  of  the  masses, 
long  after  the  experience  of  the  peasants'  war  had  cured 
Luther  of  his  popular  leanings.     In  consequence,  the  Swiss 


Counter-Reformation  of  the  Catholic  ChurcJi     89 

reformer  had  none  of  Luther's  aversion  to  interweaving  re- 
ligion and  poHtics;  on  the  contrary,  he  frankly  courted  polit- 
ical authority  all  his  life,  on  the  ground  that  only  by  this 
means  could  his  religious  programme  be  definitely  estab- 
lished in  society. 

Zwingli's  real  career  did  not  begin  until  15 18;  in  that  year  7wir.git> 
he  was  called  to  a  pastoral  charge  in  Zurich,  the  most  vigorous  ''''*'  \ 
community  in  Switzerland.  Starting  like  Luther  with  a 
protest  against  Indulgences,  he  was  carried  from  point  to 
point,  until  there  was  no  room  for  him  within  the  ancient 
Church.  The  measures  which  he  advocated  in  powerful 
addresses  from  the  pulpit  were  enthusiastically  received  by 
his  hearers,  until  by  the  end  of  1525  his  Reformed  Church 
was,  in  effect,  established  at  Zurich.  That  it  differed  by 
reason  of  its  democratic  organization  from  the  Lutheran 
Church  has  already  been  remarked;  but  it  also  differed  in 
some  essential  points  of  doctrine.  Of  the  seven  sacraments 
of  the  mediaeval  Church  Luther  had  retained  two:  baptism  Quarrel  with 
and  the  Lord's  supper.  Concerning  the  Lord's  supper  he 
believed  in  the  actual  presence  of  Jesus  in  the  bread  and 
wine,  in  accordance  with  the  literal  meaning  of  the  Gospel 
words:  this  is  my  Blood,  this  is  my  Body.  In  the  eyes  of 
Luther  the  change  of  substance  was  a  miracle  beyond  the 
power  of  explanation,  a  belief  esteemed  rank  superstition  by 
Zwingli,  who  saw  in  the  rite  merely  an  act  whereby  the 
communicant  recalled  to  his  mind  the  sacrifice  of  Christ 
upon  the  cross.  Luther's  interpretation  originated  in  his 
mystic  attitude  toward  Christianity,  whereas  Zwingli's 
view  represented  the  scientific  current  of  thought  which 
tries  to  bring  faith  into  accord  with  reason.  Such  differ- 
ences made  a  union  of  the  Lutheran  and  Zwinglian  move- 
ments impossible.  Nevertheless,  some  Protestants,  like  the 
Landgrave  Philip  of  Hesse,  convinced  that  disunion  in  the 
reformed  camp  would  invite  attack,  urged  the  rival  leaders 


Luther. 


90     The  Progress  of  the  Reformation  in  Europe 


Opposition  by 
the  Forest 
cantons. 


The  Peace  of 
Kappel,  1 53 1. 


to  bury  their  strife.  Zwingli  was  not  averse,  but  the  con- 
ference, which  at  the  invitation  of  the  Landgrave  Philip  took 
place  between  him  and  Luther  at  Marburg  in  1529,  ended 
in  failure,  because  Luther  would  not  sacrifice  an  iota  of  his 
doctrine  of  the  Lord's  supper.  Thus  the  Protestant  move- 
ment of  Switzerland  continued  upon  its  independent  course. 
But  trouble  was  already  beginning  to  threaten  its  success. 
With  the  usual  passion  of  the  reformer,  Zwingli  wished  to 
carry  his  propaganda  over  all  Switzerland.  He  met  with 
some  success,  notably  when  the  city  of  Bern  came  over  to 
his  side  (1528),  but  the  so-called  Forest  cantons,  representing 
the  original  nucleus  of  the  Confederation,  refused  to  abandon 
their  ancient  faith.  The  Forest  cantons  enfolded  the  region 
of  the  upper  Alps,  and  were  inhabited  chiefly  by  peasants 
and  herdsmen.  This  simple  and  honest  folk,  besides  being 
imbued  with  the  conservatism  natural  to  a  remote  farming 
society,  nourished  a  fear  that  the  realization  of  Zwingli's 
ideas  would  diminish  their  influence  in  the  Confederation. 
They  had  become  aware  that  in  the  background  of  ZwingU's 
religious  propaganda  lurked  a  plan  to  subject  the  cantons  to 
the  federal  Diet  by  increasing  the  latter's  powers.  In  this 
body  the  Forest  cantons  wielded,  by  reason  of  the  rule  which 
accorded  to  every  canton  equal  representation,  an  influence 
out  of  proportion  to  their  size  and  population.  Zwingli's 
plan  would  have  subjected  them  to  a  majority  drawn  from 
the  progressive  and  populous  districts.  A  prolonged  dispute 
ended  with  an  appeal  to  arms.  The  decision  fell  at  the  battle 
of  Kappel,  in  October,  1531,  where  the  Forest  cantons  were 
successful,  and  Zwingli  himself,  who  had  marched  out  with 
the  Zurich  host,  was  slain.  In  the  Peace  of  Kappel,  which 
followed  the  battle,  an  arrangement  was  concluded  which 
foreshadowed  the  solution  of  the  religious  difiiculties  of 
Germany,  found  at  Augsburg  in  1555.  Religion  was  de- 
clared to  be  the  afifair  not  of  the  Swiss  Diet,  but  of  each 


Counter- Reformation  of  the  Catholic  Church     91 

canton,  which  should  determine  for  itself  whether  Protestant- 
ism or  Catholicism  should  reign  within  its  jurisdiction.  No 
other  solution  was  perhaps  possible  in  a  loose  union  like 
Switzerland,  where  the  several  partners  held  that  they  had 
never  surrendered  their  sovereignty.  In  consequence,  the 
religious  map  of  Switzerland  acquired  that  checkered  appear- 
ance which  marks  it  to  this  day. 

The  cantons  composing  Switzerland  at  this  time  were  in 
the  main  of  German  speech.  At  the  western  portal  of  the 
Confederation  lay  a  city  of  French  speech,  which,  becoming 
Protestant  about  the  same  time,  declared  its  independence, 
and  entered  into  relations  of  amity  with  the  Swiss.  This 
city  was  Geneva,  and  the  man  who  assured  the  triumph  of  Geneva. 
its  revolution  was  the  leading  figure  of  the  second  generation 
of  reform,  John  Calvin.  Zwingli  played,  after  all,  only  a 
local  Swiss  role,  but  Calvin  exercised  an  influence  as  wide  or 
even  wider  than  that  of  Luther. 

Geneva  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  occupied  Geneva  be- 
a  curious  political  position,  which  may  be  defined  as  a  half-  pelTdenl^of 

way  station  between  medix-val  and  modern  conditions.    The  bishop  and 

duke. 
City,  like  many  other   media;val    towns,  had   acquired   a 

limited  self-government,  but  its  old  feudal  lord,  the  bishop 
of  Geneva,  still  exercised  authority  over  it,  though  sharing 
some  of  his  minor  rights  with  the  most  powerful  secular 
ruler  of  the  neighborhood,  the  duke  of  Savoy.  •  This  cal- 
culating noble  had  long  been  planning  to  add  the  city  com- 
manding the  sources  of  the  Rhone  River  to  his  possessions, 
and  had  inaugurated  his  undertaking  by  getting  the  bishopric 
well  under  his  control.  If  the  Genevans  had  not  been  im- 
bued with  the  spirit  of  liberty,  they  would  surely  have  fallen 
victims  to  the  formidable  plot  of  duke  and  bishop.  But 
subjects  of  Savoy  they  would  not  be,  and  defended  them- 
selves with  such  vigor  that  the  conspirators  were  beaten 
off   and  had   to   abandon   the   city.      By  the  year    1536 


92     The  Progress  of  the  Reformation  in  Europe 


Geneva 

becomes 

Protestant. 


John  Calvin. 


Calvin  ban- 
ished from 
France. 


Geneva  was  a  free  republic,  recognizing  no  superior  under 
heaven. 

Meanwhile  the  civil  revolt  had  become  complicated  with 
the  religious  agitations  of  the  day.  The  patriotic  struggle 
against  the  bishop  had  drawn  the  ire  of  the  Genevans  upon 
the  Church  with  which  he  was  identified.  As  much  to  spite 
their  hated  master  as  from  any  deep  moral  enthusiasm,  they 
had  turned  toward  Protestantism.  Thus  the  religious  rev- 
olution kept  pace  with  the  political  one,  and  in  the  same 
year  in  which  the  city  became  free,  its  citizens  formally 
pledged  themselves  to  live  according  to  the  new  faith.  It 
was  only  when  this  much  had  been  done  that  there  began  the 
connection  with  Geneva  of  that  man  who  gave  the  revolu- 
tion in  that  city  its  final  form  and  made  it  famous. 

It  was  a  stroke  of  chance  which  brought  John  Calvin  to 
Geneva.  He  was  a  Frenchman  by  birth,  having  been  bom 
at  Noyon,  in  the  province  of  Picardy,  on  July  lo,  1509.  He 
attended  the  universities  of  Paris  and  Orleans,  where  after 
a  brief  plunge  into  theology  he  undertook  seriously  the 
study  of  law.  The  clearness  and  precision  which  are  char- 
acteristics of  the  French  mind  were  doubtless  deepened  by 
his  legal  training,  while  his  intellect  was  both  stimulated 
and  humanized  by  early  immersion  in  the  regenerating 
stream  of  classical  antiquity. 

But  though  a  man  of  the  sixteenth  century  might  study 
law  and  love  the  classics,  he  could  not,  especially  if  he  had 
the  passion  for  righteousness  which  distinguished  Calvin, 
avoid  being  drawn  into  the  religious  whirlpool.  Calvin 
became  allied  with  the  handful  of  men  in  France  who  sup- 
ported the  reforming  opinions,  was  persecuted  by  the  in- 
tolerant government  of  Francis  I.,  and  had  to  seek  safety 
in  flight.  He  settled  at  Basel,  a  city  which  Erasmus  had 
made  illustrious  by  a  long  residence,  and  which  had  lately 
adopted  the  Zwinglian  faith;  and  here  he  published  in  1536, 


Counter-Reformation  of  the  Catholic  Church     93 

being  then  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  his  famous  theological 
work,  "  The  Institutes  of  the  Christian  Religion."  The 
Institutes  make  the  attempt  to  reconstruct  the  Christian 
Church  in  accordance  with  the  words  of  the  earliest  followers 
of  Jesus,  and  are,  by  implication  as  well  as  by  direct  state- 
ment, a  criticism  of  the  elaborate  superstructure  of  the 
mediaeval  Church.  Since  no  work  so  thorough  had  yet 
come  from  the  Protestant  camp,  the  reputation  of  the  young 
author  spread  rapidly  over  Europe.  Shortly  after  this  trea- 
tise had  appeared  he  stopped,  on  returning  from  a  secret 
visit  to  France,  for  a  night's  rest  at  Geneva. 

The  Protestant  faith  had  only  just  been  introduced  into  Calvin  is  pre- 
Geneva,   and   its   organization   left   much   to   be   desired,   stay^in'ceneva, 
Besides,  the  citizens,  having  adopted  it  largely  on  grounds  of   ^536- 
expediency,  had  not  felt  the  uplifting  force  of  a  great  moral 
experience.     Now  if  Protestantism  meant  anything  at  all 
worth  while,  it  was  an  invitation  to  a  nobler  life  in  the 
consciousness  of  God's  active  and  incessant  grace.     Farel, 
the  leading  preacher  of  Geneva,  was  in  despair  over  the 
spiritual  deadness  of  his  flock,  when,  hearing  of  the  presence 
in  the  town  of  the  famous  young  scholar,  he  called  upon  him 
to  solicit  his  aid  in  the  evangelization  of  the  city,     Calvin, 
enamored  of  the  retired  life  of  study,  at  first  refused,  but 
Farel  plied  him  with  such  vigor  that  he  resolved  at  last  to  set 
his  pleasure  after  his  duty,  and  exchange  his  quiet  closet  for 
the  stern  world  of  affairs. 

The  work  which  Calvin  now  entered  on  lasted,  with  the  Calvin  rules 
exception  of  a  short  exile,  until  his  death  in  1564.  By  sheer  chi^ch.^"^ 
force  of  will  and  ascendancy  of  genius  he  rapidly  became 
the  commanding  figure  within  the  territory  of  the  city,  and 
with  the  consent  of  its  citizens  ruled  its  destinies  like  a 
dictator.  His  plan  was  to  realize  in  Geneva  the  Christian 
Church  outlined  in  the  Institutes,  and  to  link  it  in  such  re- 
lations to  the  state  as  to  make  each  contribute  in  the  highest 


94     The  Progress  of  the  Reformation  in  Europe 


Geneva  a 

Christian 
democracy. 


Calvin's 
Church  is 
democratic. 


possible  degree  to  the  welfare  of  man.  A  separation  of 
Church  and  state,  as  exists  for  instance  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  did  not  enter  even  for  a  moment  into  his  calcula- 
tions. Such  is  the  power  resident  in  inherited  ideas,  that 
however  far  the  Protestants  withdrew  from  the  old  Church, 
they  one  and  all  held  fast  to  the  essentially  mediaeval  con- 
ception of  the  oneness  of  Church  and  state.  The  state  as 
governing  temporal  man,  the  Church  as  ministering  to  his 
spirit,  could  not  disjoin  their  labors,  if  there  was  ever  to  be 
realized  the  ideal  of  a  coming  reign  of  perfection.  In  con- 
sequence, Calvin  created  at  Geneva  what  may  be  called  a 
Church-state,  and  by  so  doing  instituted  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  experiments  in  history.  Let  us  look  at  the  two 
coordinated  features  of  his  system. 

And  first  as  to  his  state.  When  Calvin  arrived  at  Geneva, 
he  found  a  democratic  community,  that  is,  a  city  governed 
by  elected  councils.  As  he  found  it,  he  was  content,  in 
the  main,  to  leave  it.  According  to  him  any  form  of  govern- 
ment would  do  among  men,  provided  only  that  it  was  filled 
with  the  spirit  of  God.  Therefore  he  merely  impressed 
upon  the  rulers  of  the  city  that  they  were  in  a  very  true  sense 
ministers  of  the  Lord,  intrusted  with  a  work  different,  but 
quite  as  important,  as  that  of  the  preachers  of  His  word. 
During  Calvin's  life  at  least  the  officials  elected  satisfied,  on 
the  whole,  this  requirement,  and  in  consequence  the  world 
enjoyed  the  exceptional  spectacle  of  an  ecclesiastical  and 
civil  government,  each  advancing  claims  of  equality  and  in- 
dependence, and  ruling,  nevertheless,  harmoniously  side  by 
side. 

In  the  matter  of  the  Church,  which  he  had  mainly  at  heart. 
Calvin  held  that  though  there  was  one  invisible  Church  of  all 
true  believers,  practically,  this  might  be  split  up  into  many 
separate  Churches,  according  to  the  varying  conditions  of 
human  society.     Every  such  Church  belonged  to  all  its  mem- 


Counter-Reformation  of  the  Catholic  Church     95 


sistory. 


bers,  and  should  be  governed  by  them  in  the  democratic  spirit. 
Luther  had  already  denied  that  the  control  of  the  Church  be- 
longed exclusively  to  the  clergy;  but  though  he  had  in  the 
beginning  of  his  career  advocated  the  priesthood  of  every 
Christian  man,  he  had  yielded  to  the  exigencies  of  the  politi- 
cal situation  in  Germany,  and  suffered  the  princes  to  assume 
control.  Calvin  had  no  insuperable  objection  to  this  system, 
but,  like  Zwingli,  he  lived  in  a  democratic  community,  and 
feeling,  like  him,  a  preference  for  democracy,  he  put  the 
Church  directly  into  the  hands  of  the  people.  A  democratic 
or  popular  character  marks  every  Church  established  under 
his  influence.  But  the  feature  of  Calvin's  Genevan  estab- 
lishment which  has  excited  the  most  comment  is  doubtless 
the  consistory. 

The  consistory  was  a  mixed  body  of  clergy  and  laity  ap-  ThecoE 
pointed  to  watch  over  the  morals  of  the  community.  SLx 
ministers  and  twelve  elders  composed  it.  It  was  empow- 
ered to  try  any  man,  woman,  or  child  for  any  departure 
from  the  accepted  standards  of  purity,  and  hand  the  wrong- 
doer over  to  the  civil  authorities  for  punishment.  The 
consistory  has  something  of  the  appearance  of  a  Protestant 
inquisition,  but  though  it  has  brought  the  maledictions  of 
modern  apostles  of  liberty  upon  Calvin's  head,  it  is  necessary 
to  do  justice  to  his  underlying  conception.  The  Church 
and  state,  as  has  already  been  said,  he  held  to  exist  solely 
for  the  good  of  man,  for  the  achievement  of  Christian  per- 
fection. But  that  good  he  held — and  teachers  and  preachers 
of  conduct  in  all  ages  have  generally  held  with  him — could 
not  be  attained  if  departure  from  the  path  of  righteousness 
was  allowed  to  go  unpunished.  Under  the  sway  of  the  con- 
sistory the  city  assumed  a  stern  and  austere  character.  Life 
at  Geneva  in  Calvin's  day  may  have  been  inwardly  fervent, 
but  many  little  gayeties  which  lend  charm  and  color  to  the 
fleeting  hours  were   rudely  banished.     Non-attendance  at 


96     The  Progress  of  the  Reformation  in  Europe 


Calvin's 
theology. 


church  rendered  one  liable  to  punishment;  also  dancing, 
card-playing,  and  the  singing  of  profane  songs.  Let  a  man 
blaspheme,  a  child  be  disrespectful  to  its  parents,  and  the 
arm  of  the  consistory  came  down  upon  them  like  a  mallet. 
A  departure  from  the  Calvinistic  tenets  constituted  heresy, 
and  was,  of  course,  a  particularly  heinous  offence.  In  1547 
Gruet  was  executed  for  the  possession  of  infidel  books,  and 
in  1553  Servetus  was  burned  for  denying  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity.  A  system  characterized  like  this  by  the  element 
of  discipline  may  run  the  risk  of  narrowing  the  human 
sympathies  and  drawing  much  of  the  sweetness  out  of  life, 
but  it  makes  men  hard  and  firm  as  iron. 

This  same  tendency  toward  vigor  and  rigidity  rather  than 
gentleness  and  pity  was  inherent  in  the  theology  with  which 
Calvin  endowed  his  Church.  It  is  perhaps  his  least  original 
contribution  since  his  doctrines  can  generally  be  traced  back 
to  one  or  another  of  his  predecessors.  Nevertheless,  the 
Calvinistic  theology  looms  large  in  theological  annals,  chiefly 
because  of  the  prominence  given  in  polemics  to  Calvin's 
doctrine  of  election  by  grace.  This  has  stirred  up  so  much 
dust  that  it  deserves  an  explanation.  The  central  feature 
of  the  great  Frenchman's  system  was  the  absolute  supremacy 
of  God's  will.  Since  God  was  all  in  all,  it  was  preposterous 
to  suppose  that  man  could  win  salvation  either  by  works,  as 
the  Roman  Church  taught,  or  by  faith,  as  Luther  argued. 
God  alone  could  save,  and  His  saving  was  a  pure  act  of 
mercy.  But  since  God  is  eternal  and  omniscient.  He  must 
know  and  has  willed,  even  before  birth,  whether  a  soul  shall 
Predestination,  be  saved  or  lost.  This  doctrine,  known  popularly  as  pre- 
destination, has  always  aroused  much  angry  opposition, 
since  it  implies  the  denial  of  man's  power  to  contribute  an 
iota  to  his  own  salvation,  and  would  seem  to  justify  him  in 
desisting  from  any  effort  at  goodness.  It  was  freely  predicted 
that  something  akin  to  Oriental  fatalism  would  settle  like  a 


Counter-Reformation  of  the  Catholic  Church     97 


cloud  upon  the  followers  of  Calvin.  But  for  whatever  rea- 
son— perhaps  merely  to  show  how  little  philosophical  logic 
counts  in  the  conduct  of  life — the  exact  opposite  has  taken 
place.  Never  has  a  creed  stirred  its  followers  to  a  more 
strenuous  activity  than  has  Calvin's. 

We  have  seen  that  there  had  been  raised  in  Europe,  ever  The  Roman 
since  the  thirteenth  century,  loud  cries  for  the  reform  of  the  j^kes  a  reform. 
Church,  but  that  the  Popes  had  remained  deaf  to  the  call. 
At  length  toward  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
frightened  by  the  movement  begun  by  Luther,  the  Church 
of  Rome  yielded  to  the  new  spirit  and  instituted  a  series  of 
reformatory  measures. 

This  Counter-Reformation  in  the  Roman  Church  must,   Change  in  th€ 

Ci\ iW 7\.o\ PIT  Or 

in  order  to  be  rightly  understood,  be  recognized  as  a  real  re-  the  Papacy 

ligious  revival  which,  without  affecting  the  doctrines  or  the  ^'^'i 'clergy. 

system  of  government,  brought  about  a  great  improvement  in 

the  life  of  the  clergy.     We  have  noticed  that  the  Popes  of  the 

Renaissance,  concerned  chiefly  with  their  aggrandizement 

and  pleasures,  sealed  their  ears  to  the  criticism  of  humanists 

and  reformers.     But  that  attitude  of  indifference  could  not 

be  kept  up  forever  if  the  Papacy  was  to  live.     Many  loyal 

churchmen,  while  looking  with  horror  upon  any  attack  on 

the  system  of  the  Church,  were  yet  willing  to  admit  that  there 

was  much  improvement  possible  in  the  realm  of  conduct. 

According  to  them  there  was  one  reform  of  which  Rome  had 

need,  the  reform  of  its  clergy.     It  is  not  astonishing  when 

we  consider  the  Christian  fervor  of  the  Spanish  nation,  as 

manifested  by  the  long  crusades  against  the  Moors,  that 

Spain  should  have  furnished  the  first  impulse  to  a  movement 

of  reform  undertaken  in  this  spirit.     As  early  as  the  reign 

of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  that  means  before  Luther 

struck  his  famous  blow  against  Indulgences,  these  sovereigns, 

aided  by  the   devout   Cardinal   Ximenes,  infused  new  life 

into  the  Spanish  Church.     Their  idea  was  that  the  priests 


98     The  Progress  of  the  Reformation  in  Europe 

should  be  a  light  to  the  people  by  reason  of  their  purity, 
charity,  and  good  learning.  It  was  long  before  the  Italian 
Church  took  notice  of  the  Spanish  movement.  The  Popes 
and  cardinals  of  the  period  clung  to  the  pleasant  gardens  of 
the  Renaissance,  and  found  it  hard  to  abandon  the  life  of 
vorldliness  and  self-indulgence  to  which  they  had  become 
accustomed.  The  middle  of  the  century  had  been  passed 
before  the  Papacy,  in  the  person  of  Paul  IV.  (1555-59), 
definitely  pledged  itself  to  the  new  movement.  With  him 
begins  a  line  of  Popes  who  mark  a  reversion  to  the  more 
austere  ideals  of  the  Middle  Ages,  maintain  a  rigorous  moral 
code,  and  devote  themselves  with  eager  zeal  to  ecclesias- 
tical interests.  The  good  example  set  in  the  high  places 
could  not  but  affect  the  rank  and  file.  The  ignorance, 
drunkenness,  and  licentiousness  which  the  humanists  had 
imputed  to  the  clergy,  and  especially  to  the  monks,  were 
largely  replaced  in  the  course  of  the  next  generation  by 
earnestness,  love  of  study,  and  purity  of  life. 
Signs  of  The  change  of  temper  in  the  body  of  the  clergy  soon  made 

revival.  itself  felt  in  an  increased  religious  activity.     From  parish 

priest  to  bishop  a  new  fervor  animated  the  old  rulers.  One 
sign  of  it  was  the  enrichment,  in  imitation  of  the  Protestants, 
of  the  public  services  by  the  more  frequent  use  of  sermons 
and  hortatory  addresses.  Still  more  important  was  the  spon- 
taneous creation  of  great  bands  of  Christian  volunteers  who 
associated  themselves  in  orders,  much  like  those  which  have 
attended  every  revival  in  the  history  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
If  the  Theatines,  founded  in  1524,  and  the  Capuchins,  in 
1525,  cannot  be  compared  with  the  Franciscans  and  Do- 
minicans, products  of  the  great  revival  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, these  in  their  turn  pale  before  the  most  effective  in- 
strument which  the  spirit  of  religious  propaganda  has  ever 
forged,  the  order  of  the  Jesuits. 
Loyola.  The  order  of  the  Jesuits,  or  Society  of  Jesus,  was  founded 


Counter-Reformation  of  the  Catholic  Church     99 

by  Ignatius  Loyola.  Loyola  was  a  Spanish  nobleman  whose 
desire,  as  was  usual  with  his  class,  was  to  be  a  soldier,  until 
during  a  long  convalescence  from  a  wound  received  in  the 
field,  he  chanced  to  read  some  lives  of  Christian  saints  and 
heroes.  His  high-strung  and  exalted  nature  was  so  fired  by 
this  reading  that  henceforth  he  knew  no  higher  ambition 
than,  in  imitation  of  the  martyrs,  to  dedicate  his  life  to  the 
Church.  His  first  efforts  were  wildly  romantic  and  fruitless. 
He  eventually  saw  that  his  education  was  not  sufiicient,  and 
at  thirty-three  years  of  age  began  to  study  Latin,  philos- 
ophy, and  theology.  Wliile  at  school  in  Paris  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  some  kindred  spirits,  and  with  them  he 
founded  his  new  society  (1534)  for  the  purpose,  at  first,  of 
doing  missionary  work  among  the  Mohammedans.  Cir- 
cumstances prevented  the  sailing  of  the  enthusiasts  for  the 
Orient,  whereupon  they  resolved  to  go  to  Rome  to  offer 
their  services  to  the  Pope  and  to  secure  his  sanction  for 
their  order.  In  1540,  after  considerable  hesitation.  Pope 
Paul  III.  confirmed  the  order  and  the  rules  which  Loyola 
had  composed  for  it. 

It  was  not  unnatural  that  Loyola,  an  old  soldier,  should  The  order  d 
have  modelled  his  order  somewhat  after  the  army.  Disci-  ^J^"' 
pline,  an  iron  discipline,  was  its  main  characteristic.  Only 
after  a  long  period  of  probation  was  a  novice  admitted  to 
full  membership.  The  trend  of  the  long  training  was  to 
divest  the  candidate  of  his  personal  will  and  to  persuade 
him  to  merge  his  individuality  in  the  will  of  the  order. 
This  general  will  was  personified  by  the  general,  the  su- 
preme head,  who  ruled  the  members  like  a  regiment  of  sol- 
diers. In  an  organization  where  all  private  desires  and 
ambitions  are  eradicated,  and  only  one  voice  of  command 
makes  itself  heard,  there  is  bound  to  be  achieved  a  perfect 
unity  and  cohesion.  The  members  serving  under  the 
general  were  of  four  classes:    (i)  coadjutors  temporal  or 


lOO     The  Progress  of  the  Reformation  in  Europe 


Growth  of 
the  order. 


Their  schools. 


Their  preach- 
ing. 


lay  brothers,  (2)  scholastics  who,  as  teachers  in  the 
school,  were  preparing  themselves  for  higher  service,  (3) 
coadjutors  spiritual  or  priests,  who  had  taken  the  three 
vows  of  obedience,  poverty,  and  chastity,  and  (4)  the  pro- 
fessed who,  in  addition  to  the  three  vows,  had  taken  a 
fourth  vow  of  special  obedience  to  the  Pope.  Only  the 
professed  had  a  voice  in  the  government  of  the  society,  and 
the  fourth  vow  imposed  upon  them  reveals  that  the  order 
was  conceived  as  the  prop  and  weapon  of  the  Papacy.  Thus 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  order,  although  it  maintained 
affiliations  with  the  laity  by  admitting  merchants,  nobles, 
and  statesmen,  as  it  were,  into  its  outer  court-yard,  was 
substantially  a  congregation  of  priests.  As  such  its  labors 
were  determined  for  it.  They  were  preaching  mission 
work  and  education. 

The  society  grew  prodigiously  in  numbers  and  in  wealth. 
When  Loyola,  its  first  general,  died  in  1556  it  was  already 
a  factor  to  be  reckoned  with,  and  before  the  end  of  the  cen- 
tury it  possessed  many  thousand  members  and  supported 
several  hundred  colleges  and  houses,  scattered  everywhere 
over  Catholic  Europe.  Recognizing  that  youth  is  the  im- 
pressionable age,  the  maintenance  of  schools  became  one  of 
the  chief  activities  of  the  society,  and  thanks  to  the  energy 
and  zeal  of  its  members  their  system  of  instruction  reached  a 
high  degree  of  excellence.  In  fact,  the  Jesuits  remained  for 
many  generations  the  foremost  educators  of  Europe.  But 
important  as  were  the  young,  the  old  were  not  neglected. 
The  Jesuits  became  famous  preachers,  and  as  priests  ac- 
quired much  skill  in  the  treatment  of  the  conscience  and  in 
resolving  the  doubts  which  beset  at  times  even  the  sturdi- 
est believer.  By  reason  of  this  gift  they  were  generally  in 
demand  as  confessors,  in  which  capacity  they  found  their 
way  into  the  councils  of  the  mighty  of  the  earth,  and 
exercised  considerable,  though  indefinable,  political  sway. 


Counter-Reformation  of  the  Catholic  Church    loi 

Sustained  by  their  devotion  to  the  Catholic  cause  they  car- 
ried their  propaganda  across  the  seas  among  the  Hindoos,  Their  prop 
Japanese,  and  Chinese  of  Asia  and  among  the  Indians  of  ^ 
America,  and  were  not  afraid  to  penetrate  into  the  Protest- 
ant north  in  the  hope  of  winning  the  revoked  peoples  back 
to  Mother  Church.  Nor  were  these  efforts  without  fruit. 
If  the  Roman  Church  was  enabled  to  raise  its  head  again  in 
Germany  and  England,  it  was  chiefly  due  to  the  secret,  tire- 
less, and  death-defying  labors  of  the  Jesuits.  In  the  course 
of  the  seventeenth  century  Germany  was  startled  by  the  news 
of  the  return  of  many  a  Protestant  prince  to  the  Church  of 
Rome,  and  when  the  Scottish  Stuarts  upon  the  British  throne 
and  the  electoral  family  of  Saxony,  the  cradle  of  the  Refor- 
mation, sued  to  be  readmitted  to  the  papal  fold,  the  out- 
look for  Protestantism  became  dark  and  threatening. 

But  the  Jesuits  were  not  the  only  assistants  that  Rome 
prepared  for  service  in  the  period  of  its  revival.  Other  im- 
portant aids  were  the  Inquisition,  the  Council  of  Trent,  and 
the  Index. 

The  Inquisition,  set  up  in  Rome  in  1542,  was  an  ecclesi-  The  papal 
astical  court  of  inquiry,  intrusted  with  the  ferreting  out  of  '^^^'^'  "^'^ 
heresy  and  the  punishment  of  those  who  propagated  it.  It 
was  not  a  novel  idea,  for  a  similar  court  of  Inquisition  had 
proved  its  efficacy  in  the  Middle  Ages  by  destroying  the 
Albigensian  heretics  of  southern  France;  but  it  had  been 
allowed  to  lapse  in  the  fifteenth  century  except  in  Spain, 
where  a  use  was  found  for  it  in  dealing  with  the  special  con- 
ditions created  in  the  peninsula  by  the  presence  of  a  large 
number  of  Jews  and  Moors.  When  the  Papacy  at  last 
awakened  to  the  danger  to  which  it  was  exposed  by  the  new 
heresies  of  Luther  and  Calvin,  it  naturally  bethought  itself 
of  this  ancient  weapon.  The  bull  of  1542,  which  created 
the  Inquisition,  was  soon  followed  by  others  which  gave 
the  institution  its  definitive  organization.     A  committee  of 


I02     The  Progress  of  the  Reformation  in  Europe 


The  territory 
of  the  papal 
Inquisition 
limited  to 
Italy. 


The  Council 
of  Trent. 


cardinals,  sitting  at  Rome,  investigated  all  cases  of  heresy 
denounced  to  it,  declared  their  sentence  of  imprisonment, 
confiscation,  or  death,  and  were  empowered  to  despatch 
other  inquisitors  to  any  point  where  they  seemed  to  be 
needed.  It  was  the  papal  ambition  to  give  this  committee 
a  jurisdiction  as  wide  as  that  of  the  Church  itself,  but 
herein  Rome  was  disappointed.  The  Spanish  Inquisition, 
so  terribly  efficient  long  before  the  Roman  Inquisition  was 
established,  had  become  closely  associated  with  the  royal 
power,  and  resented  any  interference  with  its  operation. 
In  other  countries  there  were  similar  difficulties;  either  the 
bishops,  or  the  king,  or  some  other  established  power  blocked 
the  way  to  the  papal  pretensions.  Heresy  these  countries 
had  punished  in  the  past  and  would  continue  to  punish,  but 
they  had  done  it  with  the  aid  of  already  existing  courts,  and 
plainly  told  the  Pope  that  they  would  have  none  of  his 
interference.  Consequently,  the  Roman  Inquisition  never 
exercised  any  notable  activity  except  in  Italy.  If  we  hear  of 
systematic  persecution  elsewhere — and  there  was  an  abun- 
dance of  it  in  every  Catholic  country — we  should  take  note 
that  it  was  accomplished  by  a  local  or  national  Inquisition, 
conducted  by  national  officials,  and  never,  as  the  Pope 
desired,  intrusted  to  his  hands  as  one  of  the  functions  of  a 
centralized  monarchy. 

If  Jesuits  and  Inquisition  chiefly  supplied  the  Church 
with  its  militant  vigor,  the  Council  of  Trent  precisely  defined 
the  territory  which  Catholicism  was  resolved  to  hold  and 
defend.  We  have  seen,  in  connection  with  Indulgences  and 
other  points  of  doctrine  raised  by  Luther,  that  there  were 
many  practices  and  beliefs  in  the  mediseval  Church  which 
had  developed  gradually  by  custom  and  had  never  been 
authoritatively  defined.  In  consequence,  the  Saxon  reformer 
ventured  to  assert  that  he  had  as  good  and  as  Catholic 
sanction  for  his  doctrine  of  faith  as  his  opponents  for  their 


Counter-Reformation  of  the  Catholic  Church     T03 

doctrine  of  works.  Charles  V.  believed  that  if  Catholics 
and  Protestants  could  only  be  brought  together  in  a  General 
Council,  they  would  succeed  in  reducing  their  differences  to 
a  common  formula,  and  so  perpetuate  the  cherished  unity 
of  Christendom.  The  emperor  therefore  ceaselessly  urged 
upon  the  Pope  the  duty  of  calling  a  Council.  The  Pope,  for 
his  part,  resisted  the  imperial  demand,  mindful  that  the 
Councils  of  the  past  had  threatened  his  absolute  control,  and 
fearful  lest  a  Council  at  this  juncture  should  mean  surrender 
to  the  Protestants.  In  1542  he  had  at  length  given  way, 
and  called  a  Council  at  Trent,  but  adjourned  it  again  before 
it  had  held  a  single  session.  Whenever  the  emperor  had 
the  whip-hand,  he  obliged  or  persuaded  the  Pope  to  issue 
another  call,  but  the  result  of  the  second  (1545-47)  and  third 
meetings  (1551-52)  was  hardly  more  satisfactory  than  the 
first,  and  when  the  emperor  died  it  was  with  the  full  knowl- 
edge that  his  conciliar  remedy  for  the  Protestant  schism  had 
been  a  failure.  Even  if  the  Popes  had  not  set  their  wills 
against  the  plan,  it  would  have  been  wrecked  upon  the  op- 
position of  the  Protestants  themselves,  who  had  by  the  middle 
of  the  century  got  far  past  the  point  of  possible  agreement. 
After  Charles's  death,  however,  when  the  mediaeval  reaction 
had  definitely  triumphed  in  the  Church  and  all  talk  of  con- 
cession to  the  Protestants  had  been  hushed,  the  Council  of 
Trent  met  for  the  fourth  and  last  time  in  the  years  1562-63, 
and  set  the  crown  upon  a  notable  historical  labor.  It  now 
took  the  uncompromising  stand  that  the  Protestants  were 
heretics,  that  no  negotiations  could  be  carried  on  with  them, 
and  that  the  government,  worship,  and  doctrines  of  the 
mediaeval  Church  were  exactly  right  as  they  were.  Not 
reconciliation,  as  Charles  had  planned,  but  the  solemn  re- 
affirmation of  the  history  and  traditions  of  the  Church  was 
accepted  as  the  purpose  for  which  it  had  been  called.  In 
consequence,  the   Council   took   upon   itself  to  formulate 


I04     TJie  Progress  of  the  Reformation  in  Europe 


The  Papacj- 
strengthened 
by  the  Council 
of  Trent. 


authoritatively,  and  in  a  manner  admitting  of  no  dispute,  the 
doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  rendered  the  division 
of  Christianity  definite  and  final  by  laying  a  formal  anathema 
on  every  Protestant  opinion.  The  official  compilation  called 
"  The  Canons  and  Decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent,"  in  which 
the  results  of  the  sessions  are  registered,  constitutes  the  most 
complete  statement  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  in  existence.  This  precise  staking  off  of  Catholic 
ground  was  to  be  of  the  utmost  advantage  during  the  coming 
sharp  struggle  with  the  forces  of  Protestantism.  Every 
Catholic  could  now  instruct  himself  as  to  what  he  was 
obliged  to  believe  and  defend,  and  knew  also  what  he  was 
bound  to  abominate  and  shun. 

A  result  of  Trent  which  must  have  surprised  everybody,  in 
view  of  the  unconcealed  aversion  with  which  the  Popes  had 
viewed  the  prospect  of  a  Council,  was  that  the  Papacy  came 
out  of  the  crisis  actually  strengthened.  Between  Councils 
and  Popes  existed  an  ancient  rivah")'  over  the  question  of  the 
final  authority  in  the  Church.  The  Councils  had  always 
claimed  it,  but  its  exercise  had  during  the  last  centuries  been 
assumed  by  the  Popes.  In  the  Council  of  Trent  there  was 
a  party  of  bishops  who  took  their  stand  on  the  old  platform 
of  conciliar  supremacy,  but  the  papal  party,  assisted  by  the 
new  champions  of  the  Pope,  the  Jesuits,  won  a  complete 
victory.  The  Pope  came  out  of  the  Council  so  far  in  the 
lead  that  the  Council  has  never  since  proved  dangerous  to  his 
authority.  In  fact,  only  one  Council  has  been  called  since 
that  of  Trent,  the  Council  of  the  Vatican,  which  met  in  1870, 
and  its  sole  business  was  to  vote  its  own  abdication  by 
solemnly  affirming  the  dogma  of  the  Infallibility  of  the  Pope. 
But  though  papal  infallibility  was  voted  at  a  comparatively 
late  time,  it  was,  after  all,  nothing  but  the  inevitable  corollary 
of  the  absolutism  which  was  tacitly  acknowledged  as  early 
as  the  Council  of  Trent. 


Counter- Reformation  of  the  Catholic  Chtirch     105 

Before  the  Council  adjourned  it  empowered  the  Pope  to  The  Index, 
draw  up  a  list  of  prohibited  books,  destined  to  grow  famous 
under  the  name  of  the  Index.  The  purpose  of  the  Index 
was  to  stigmatize  the  heresiarchs  and  to  designate  dearly  all 
heretical  writings,  in  order  to  preserve  good  Catholics  from 
their  evil  influence.  The  Index  thus  authorized  was  pub- 
lished in  1564,  and  from  that  time  to  our  own  day  the  Papacy 
has  maintained  the  policy  of  proscribing  books  which  are, 
or  seem  to  be,  subversive  of  its  system.  Many  of  the  epoch- 
making  works  which  northern  scholarship  produced,  not 
only  in  theology  but  also  in  the  broader  fields  of  science  and 
culture,  were  incorporated  in  the  Index,  with  the  result  that 
professing  Catholics  have  been  deprived  of  an  incalculable 
intellectual  stimulus.  The  gradual  shifting  of  the  mental 
centre  of  gravity  from  Italy,  where  it  had  rested  in  the 
Renaissance,  to  the  countries  beyond  the  Alps  was  due  in 
no  small  degree  to  the  narrow  policy  which  shut  its  eyes 
upon  progress,  and  timidly  declared  for  security  in  place  of 
independence. 

We  have  now  acquainted  ourselves  with  the  movement  Catholicism 
known  as  the  Catholic  reaction,  or,  quite  as  justly,  as  the 
Catholic  Reformation.  While  we  have  assured  ourselves 
that  there  was  a  true  reformation,  affecting  the  life  and  man- 
ners of  the  clergy,  and  filling  the  Church  with  new  sincerity 
and  zeal,  we  also  have  learned  that  there  was  a  resolute 
return  to,  and  stiffening  of,  the  mediaeval  system  of  govern- 
ment and  theology.  The  effect  of  the  combined  measures 
was  to  inspire  the  Church  with  a  truly  electrical  energy.  If 
in  the  course  of  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century  it 
had  been  driven  from  position  after  position  until  the  very 
sparrows  on  the  house-tops  prophesied  its  early  fall,  beginning 
approximately  with  the  creation  of  the  Jesuits  it  rallied  its 
scattered  and  defeated  forces,  strongly  fortified  its  remaining 
territory,  and  not  only  stopped  all  further  advance,  but 


becomes 
aggressive. 


lo6    The  Progress  of  the  Reformation  in  Europe 

soon  undertook  to  reconquer  its  lost  provinces.  Protestant- 
ism was  now  threatened  in  its  turn,  and  the  struggle  which 
ensued  is  the  central  interest  in  European  history  for  the  res^ 
of  the  century. 


CHAPTER  VI 

SPAIN  UNDER  CHARLES  I.  (1516-56),  KNOWN  AS  EMPEROR 
CHARLES  v.,  AND  PHILIP  H.  (1556-98);  HER  WORLD 
EMINENCE  AND   HER  DECAY 

References:  Johnson,  Europe  in  the  Sixteenth  Cencury, 
Chapters  III.,IV.,V.  (rivalry  with  France), VII.  (Phihp) ; 
Armstrong,  The  Emperor  Charles  V.;  M.  A.  S.  Hume, 
PhiUp  II.;  M.  A.  S.  Hume,  Spain,  1479-1788;  Lea, 
The  Moriscoes  in  Spain;  Cambridge  Modern  His- 
tory, Vol.  II.,  Chapters  H.,  HI.;  and  Vol.  HI., 
Chapters  XV.,  XVL 

Source  Readings:  Robinson,  Readings,  Vol.  II.,  Chapter 
XXVIII.,  Parts  3  and  4  (Charles  and  Philip). 

From  the  Spanish  national  point  of  view  it  was  a  great  The  reign  of 
misfortune  that  Charles  I.  (1516-56)  was  elected  to  the  1516-56." 
Empire  in  15 19,  and  became  Emperor  Charles  V.  Hence- 
forth, having  duties  to  perform  in  Germany,  he  could  no 
longer  give  his  whole  time  to  Spain.  In  fact,  from  the  time 
of  his  imperial  election  he  seems  gradually  to  have  lost 
sight  of  any  strictly  national  point  of  view;  he  became,  above 
all,  desirous  of  playing  a  grand  European  role,  and  that 
naturally  brought  with  it  a  division  of  his  service  and  a  per- 
petual compromise  of  the  interests  of  all  the  nations  which 
he  represented.  Now,  the  interests  of  Spain  and  Germany 
were  pot  necessarily  opposed.  One  great  interest,  the  de- 
feat of  the  Turks,  who  were  pushing  along  the  Danube  into 
Germany,  and  along  the  Mediterranean  toward  Spain,  they 
even  had  in  common;  but  what  had  Germany  to  do  with  the 
emperor's  Italian  wars  or  his  colonial  policy,   and  what 

107 


lo8  Spain   Under  Charles  I. 

benefit  did  Spain  derive  from  his  life-long  struggle  against 
Protestantism?  Moreover,  although  the  government  of 
Spain  needed  Charles's  personal  attention  because  he  was 
the  focus  of  political  life,  out  of  a  reign  of  forty  years  he 
spent  in  Spain  hardly  fifteen.  It  is  true,  he  was  the  greatest 
political  figure  of  his  day,  and  his  fellow-actors  upon  the 
European  stage  shrank  to  pigmies  when  he  made  his  entrance; 
it  is  true,  he  was  of  tireless  activity  and  with  all  seriousness 
tried  to  live  up  to  the  demands  which  the  old  illusory  ideal 
of  the  emperor,  the  arbiter  of  the  world,  made  upon  him; 
but  it  is  also  true  that  his  grandeur  was  a  personal  grandeur, 
and  not  identified  with  the  nation,  as  is  the  case  with  the 
world's  great  sovereigns,  for  instance,  Elizabeth  of  England 
and  Henry  IV.  of  France.  In  a  word,  Charles  used  the 
Spanish  resources  for  his  own,  and  not  exclusively  for  Span- 
ish ends. 
Strength  of  But  Other  causes  which  lay  back  of  the  reign  and  person- 

by growing"^  ality  of  Charles  contributed  to  the  decay  of  Spain.  We 
absolutism.  have  seen  that  the  royal  power  grew  greatly  under  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella,  and  that  such  growth  was  on  the  whole  to  the 
advantage  of  the  country,  because  it  humbled  the  nobility 
and  facilitated  the  suppression  of  the  robber-knights. 
Under  Charles  this  centralizing  movement  began  to  show 
some  of  its  darker  sides.  In  the  early  part  of  his  reign,  in 
1 52 1,  the  cities  revolted  as  a  protest  against  the  excessive 
taxation  to  which  they  were  subjected.  After  a  fierce  struggle 
their  revolt  was  put  down,  with  the  result  that  the  govern- 
ment, henceforth  suspicious  of  the  towns,  cancelled  many 
of  their  liberties.  In  the  same  way  the  Cortes,  the  parliament 
of  Castile,  once  the  proudest  self-governing  body  of  Europe, 
was  slit^hted  and  abased  on  everv  occasion.  It  still  main- 
tained  its  right  of  voting  the  taxes  which  the  government 
demanded,  but  the  act  tended  more  and  more  to  degenerate 
into  a  mere  mechanical  registration  of  the  king's  wishes, 


Her   World  Eminence  and  Her  Decay       109 


while  all  share  in  the  making  of  the  laws  was  practically 
surrendered.  Thus  the  initiative  of  the  Spanish  people  in 
local  and  national  affairs  was  systematically  checked,  and 
where  a  policy  of  this  sort  holds  sway  it  is  safe  to  assert  that 
a  people  is  running  the  risk  of  losing  its  vigor. 

Economic  causes  also  contributed  powerfully  to  the  early  Foolish 

,       ,  .         .  ,  economic 

decay  of  Spain.  We  have  seen  that  the  kmg  m  order  to  policy. 
carry  on  his  European  wars  was  obliged  to  tax  the  Spanish 
people  heavily.  Now  the  mere  drain  of  money  was  in  itself 
serious  enough,  but  the  Spanish  Government  made  it  nearly 
unbearable  by  coupling  with  it  a  fiscal  and  industrial  policy 
which  could  not  have  been  worse  had  it  been  dictated  by 
Spain's  worst  enemy.  The  ordinary  tax  (alcabala)  was  a 
duty  of  ten  per  cent  on  everything  sold,  which  naturally  had 
the  effect  of  totally  discouraging  commerce,  while  industrial 
enterprises,  like  the  manufacture  of  cloth,  were  weighted 
with  so  many  burdens  and  regulations  that  they  were 
smothered  in  the  cradle.  Add  to  these  discouragements  a 
certain  southern  slothfulness  and  a  national  fondness  for 
the  display  of  elegant  leisure,  and  it  becomes  plain  why 
Spain  never  developed  her  natural  resources  but  grew  visibly 
poorer  from  decade  to  decade. 

And  from  this  analysis  of  the  malady  of  Spain,  let  not  the   Intellectual 

,  ,  ,  paralysis 

Inquisition  be  omitted.  We  have  seen  how,  though  oper-  caused  by  the 
ating  against  heretics,  it  possessed  from  the  first  a  special  Inq^'s't'o". 
significance,  because  the  heretics,  being  Jews  and  Moors, 
happened  to  be  a  racially  foreign  body.  Its  political  charac- 
ter was  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  the  crown  and  not  the 
Pope  controlled  the  institution,  and  that  its  numerous  con- 
fiscations flowed  into  the  royal  treasury.  The  Inquisition 
mscribed  upon  its  banner  the  policy,  "  one  faith  one  people," 
and  though  it  accomplished  its  end,  it  did  so  at  a  terrible 
cost.  Several  thousand  Jews  and  Moors  were  burned  at 
the  stake;  many  thousands  fled  or  were  banished.     Apart 


no 


Spain   Under  Charles  I. 


Philip  II.  suc- 
ceeds to  the 
kingdom  of 
Spain. 


The  character 
of  Philip  II. 


from  the  wrong,  the  mental  and  material  loss  was  irrepara- 
ble, since  Jews  and  Moors  represented  the  most  active 
commercial  and  intellectual  elements  in  the  peninsula. 
When  toward  the  middle  of  the  century  Protestanisro 
raised  its  head  here  and  there,  it  was  crushed  with  the 
same  relentless  energy.  But  if  the  Inquisition  was  estab- 
lished to  repress  heretics,  it  soon  extended  its  watchfulness 
to  the  whole  orthodox  society  of  Spain.  Every  form  of  intel- 
lectual activity  fell  under  suspicion,  until  no  man  dared  think 
a  free  thought,  and  the  whole  country  sank  into  stagnation. 
However,  since  a  yoke  is  hardly  a  yoke  when  it  is  borne 
as  proudly  as  if  it  were  a  chain  of  honor,  it  should  be  re- 
membered that  the  Spanish  people  on  the  whole  viewed  the 
Inquisition  with  profound  approval.  They  subscribed  to  its 
general  principle  with  enthusiasm,  and  in  their  fervid  catho- 
licity cheered  the  execution  of  their  enemies.  When  the  fire 
was  laid  in  the  public  square  to  the  long  fagot-piles  of  the  vic- 
tims, the  Spaniards  crowded  to  the  ceremony  as  to  a  bull-fight. 

The  last  thirteen  years  of  his  reign  Charles  spent  in  Ger- 
many. The  Protestant  successes  there  broke  his  spirit,  and 
he  resigned  his  crowns  in  1556,  Spain  to  his  son  Phihp,  Ger- 
many to  his  brother  Ferdinand.  Phihp  II.  (1556-98)  on 
his  accession  found  himself  at  the  head  of  states  (Spain  and 
her  colonies,  Naples,  Milan,  and  the  Netherlands)  hardly 
less  extensive  than  those  which  Charles  had  governed,  and 
as  he  did  not  become  emperor  he  had,  from  the  Spanish 
point  of  view,  the  great  excellence  over  Charles  that  he  was 
a  national  king.  As  such  he  enjoyed  the  favor  of  his  people, 
retaining  it  even  through  the  disasters  which  mark  the  close 
of  his  reign. 

It  is  curious  that  this  same  Philip,  whom  contemporary 
Spaniards  sincerely  esteemed,  should  stand  before  the  rest 
of  Europe  as  the  darkest  tyrant  and  most  persistent  enemy 
of  light  and  progress  whom  the  age  produced.     To  this  tra- 


Her   World  Eminence  and  Her  Decay       1 1 1 

ditional  Protestant  picture  there  certainly  belongs  a  meas- 
ure of  truth;  but  calm  investigation  informs  us  that  this 
truth  is  associated  with  prejudice  and  distorted  by  exagger- 
ation. Philip  II.  was  a  severe,  formal,  and  narrow-minded 
oian,  who  was  animated  by  the  Catholic  fervor  traditional 
among  his  people  and  his  family,  and  who  had  acquired  from 
the  sad  experiences  of  his  father  Charles  a  perfect  horror  of 
religious  diversity.  Therefore  his  guiding  thought,  while 
there  was  life  in  him,  was  to  maintain  the  Catholic  faith 
by  repression  of  heresy  through  the  Inquisition,  where  he 
had  the  power;  by  war,  where  war  had  become  inevitable. 
Every  Protestant  when  he  thinks  of  Philip  II.  thinks  of  the 
Inquisition.  But  the  Inquisition,  as  we  have  seen,  was  not 
Philip's  invention,  nor  did  he,  although  he  made  a  revolting 
use  of  it,  handle  it  more  cruelly  than  his  predecessors.  In- 
deed, a  scrutiny  of  his  life  will  convince  us  that  the  mephis- 
tophelian  portrait  of  him  which  his  enemies  popularized 
does  not  fit  the  case.  He  was,  in  fact,  a  plodding,  reticent 
man,  who  took  his  business  of  kingship  very  seriously,  and 
who,  but  for  the  one  spark  struck  from  him  by  his  radi- 
cal intolerance,  would  have  been  as  foreign  to  any  kind  of 
enthusiasm  as  the  head  of  a  bank.  He  passed  his  days  and 
his  nights  over  state  affairs.  Every  document  had  to  go 
through  his  own  hands.  Historians  who  have  examined  his 
papers  declare  it  incredible  that  so  much  matter  should  have 
been  written  by  one  man  in  one  lifetime.  In  fact,  work  was 
his  failing,  for  work  with  him  degenerated  into  the  rage  for 
minutia;,  and  ended  by  enfeebling  his  grasp  of  essentials. 
Out  of  business  hours  this  ogre  of  the  Protestant  mythology 
was  a  tender  and  devoted  husband  and  father.  Even  his 
worthless  son,  Don  Carlos,  whose  mysterious  death  in  prison 
has  been  the  cause  of  violent  and  frequent  defamation  of  the 
royal  name,  he  is  now  admitted  to  have  treated  with  an  ex- 
emplary forbearance. 


I  12 


Spahi   Under  Charles  L 


Philip  as  the 
champion  of 
Catholicism. 


Philip  inaugu- 
rates his  reisrn 
by  a  war  with 
France. 


It  is  true  that  Philip  became  the  champion  of  the  CathoHc 
reaction,  which  is  to  say  that  he  identified  himself  with  the 
greatest  movement  of  his  half  of  the  century,  and  rushed  into 
war  with  the  Protestant  world  of  the  north.  Doubtless,  he 
gloried  in  this  role  on  religious  grounds;  nevertheless,  an 
impartial  student  must  agree  that  his  wars  were  as  much 
forced  upon  him  by  Protestant  aggression  and  the  logical 
progress  of  events,  as  determined  by  his  own  Catholic 
impulses.  As  things  stood  after  the  Council  of  Trent,  a 
great  Protestant-Catholic  world-war  was  inevitable.  It  came 
by  way  of  the  Spanish  Netherlands.  The  Netherlands  re- 
volted, and  Philip  set  about  putting  down  the  insurrection. 
When  he  grew  aware  that  the  question  of  religion  was  in- 
volved, his  measures  of  repression  became  barbarous;  they 
were  the  traditional  Spanish  measures,  the  rack  and  the 
fagot;  worst  of  all,  from  the  political  point  of  view,  they 
proved  inadequate  in  the  end.  The  Netherlands  could  not 
be  pacified  by  Philip,  and  gradually  won  the  sympathies 
and  secured  the  aid  of  the  French  Huguenots  and  the  German 
and  English  Protestants.  So  the  war  widened.  Finding 
himself  opposed  in  the  Netherlands  by  united  Protestant- 
ism, the  king  tried  to  secure  the  Catholic  sympathies  by 
putting  himself  forward  as  the  champion  of  the  Pope  and 
the  Church. 

This  great  struggle  between  Philip  and  the  Protestant 
powers,  wherein  lies  the  main  significance  of  his  reign^ 
developed  only  gradually.  When  he  ascended  the  throne, 
it  looked  as  if  the  chief  concern  with  him,  as  with  his  father 
Charles,  would  be  to  set  a  limit  to  the  ambitions  of  France 
and  keep  her  out  of  Italy.  In  the  very  year  of  Philip's  acces- 
sion (1556),  Henry  II.  of  France,  in  alliance  with  the  Pope, 
began  a  war  which  is  a  close  counterpart  of  the  many  wars 
waged  between  Charles  and  Francis.  Now  as  then  the  chief 
object  of  contention  was  Italy,  and  now,  as  on  all  former 


Her   World  Eminence  and  Her  Decay       1 1 3 

occasions,  fortune  decided  for  the  Spaniard.  France,  after 
suffering  two  capital  defeats  in  the  Netherlands,  one  at  St. 
Quentin  (1557)  and  the  other  at  Gravelines  (1558),  once 
more  came  to  terms  with  her  old  enemy.  By  the  Peace  of 
Cateau-Cambresis  (1559)  she  accepted  the  Spanish  domina- 
tion in  Italy.  We  may  assume  that  France  would  have 
again  returned  to  the  attack  as  so  often  before,  if  civil  dis- 
sensions had  not  broken  out  which  fully  engaged  her  atten- 
tion for  a  long  time  to  come.  Philip  himself  became  presently 
taken  up  with  the  question  of  the  revolted  Netherlands. 
Thus  the  Peace  of  Cateau-Cambresis  marks  an  epoch.  It  The  Peace  of 
rings  down  the  curtain  on  the  long  political  struggle  with  cambresis 
France,  chiefly  over  Italy — a  struggle  which  had  begun  "^  ^'j,^^  ^^ 
more  than  a  half  century  before  with  Charles  VIII. 's  in- 
vasion of  1494 — and  it  is  followed  by  the  era  of  religious 
wars,  which  cover  the  rest  of  Philip's  reign. 

It  has  already  been  submitted  that  these  religious  wars  The  revolt  of 

.    .      1  -J  i.      r  i  •  the  Nether- 

are  not  to  be  conceived  as  an  act  of  wanton  aggression  on  lands. 

Philip's  part,  but  rather  as  the  inevitable  consequence  of  the 
animosities  and  enmities  aroused  by  Protestant  thrust  and 
Catholic  parry.  Their  origin  and  centre  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Netherlands.  The  revolt  of  these  provinces  against 
Philip,  their  sovereign,  will  be  treated  in  a  subsequent 
chapter  (Chapter  VIII.).  We  shall  find  that  it  began  before 
Philip's  reign  was  ten  years  old,  that  it  involved  a  cruel  and 
stubborn  conflict,  and  that  if  it  turned  finally  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  Protestant  Dutch  that  result  was  due  in 
large  measure  to  the  circumstance  that  the  insurgents  gained 
the  sympathy  and  aid  of  the  whole  reformed  world  in  their 
heroic  struggle.  For  as  Protestantism  became  aware  of 
the  vigor  of  the  Catholic  reaction,  it  felt  threatened  by  the 
pcwer  of  Spain,  which  had  undertaken  the  championship 
of  that  reaction.  Inevitably  the  Protestant  peoples  were 
drawn  about  brave  Holland.     Philip  saw  himself  gradually 


114 


Spain   Under  Charles  I. 


The  Armada, 
1588. 


Philip's  wars 
with  the 
Turks. 


Victory  of 
Lepanto, 


engaged  in  a  world- war;  to  the  war  with  the  Dutch  rebels 
was  added  a  war  with  the  French  Huguenots  and  a  war  with 
the  England  of  Elizabeth.  Furiously  Philip  turned  at  length 
upon  his  leading  Protestant  enemy,  England. 

The  height  of  the  struggle  between  Spain  and  England 
was  the  sending  of  the  great  fleet,  the  Armada,  against  the 
heretic  island-kingdom  (1588).  The  Atlantic  waters  had 
never  seen  the  like;  but  the  expedition  failed  miserably  by 
reason  of  the  superior  skill  and  audacity  of  the  English 
sailors  and  the  disasters  caused  by  wind  and  water.  Philip 
bore  his  defeat  with  dignified  resignation.  He  spoke  vm- 
affectedly  of  the  deep  grief  it  caused  him  "not  to  be  able  to 
render  God  this  great  service."  But  the  destruction  of  the 
Armada  settled  the  fate  of  the  religious  war.  It  determined 
that  the  Dutch  should  not  be  reconquered;  it  established 
the  Protestant  world  henceforth  securely  against  the  Catholic 
reaction;  and  it  prepared  a  naval  successor  for  degenerate 
Spain  in  youthful  England. 

The  Dutch  and  their  Protestant  allies  were  not  Philip's 
only  enemies.  Worse  offenders  against  Catholic  Christianity 
than  the  Dutch,  the  Mohammedan  Turks,  engaged  his 
attention  during  his  whole  reign.  The  Turks  were  then  and 
continued  for  some  generations  to  be  the  terror  of  the  west 
Bit  by  bit  they  were  conquering  the  possessions  of  Venice 
in  the  Orient;  foot  by  foot  they  were  pushing  across  Tran- 
sylvania and  Hungary  toward  Germany;  with  the  help  ot 
the  Mohammedan  pirate  states  of  northern  Africa,  which 
had  accepted  the  suzerainty  of  the  Sultan,  they  were  plunder- 
ing the  coasts  of  Spain  and  Italy,  and  were  threatening  to 
sweep  the  Christians  wholly  off  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 
Finally,  in  their  great  need,  the  Pope,  Venice,  and  Spain 
formed  an  alliance  (1571),  and  in  the  same  year  their  united 
fleet  won  a  brilliant  victory  over  the  Turks  off  Lepanto  in 
Greece.    Rarely  has  a  greater  number  of  ships  been  brought 


Her   World  Emhie?ice  and  Her  Decay       115 

into  action,  the  fleet  of  the  crescent  as  well  as  that  of  the 
cross  amounting  to  about  two  hundred  galleys.  The  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  Christians  was  the  young  and  chival- 
rous Don  John  of  Austria,  a  half-brother  of  Philip  II. 
Dressed  in  white  velvet  and  gold  he  was  rowed  down  the 
lanes  of  his  galleys,  crying  exhortations  to  his  men:  "Christ 
is  your  leader.  This  is  the  battle  of  the  cross."  His  dash 
and  courage,  coupled  with  an  unusual  display  of  energy  on 
Phihp's  part  in  raising  supplies,  contributed  the  main  share 
to  the  triumph.  Hardly  more  than  thirty  Turkish  vessels 
escaped  the  ruin;  30,000  Turks  were  killed,  12,000  Christian 
rowers  freed  from  slavery.  The  victory  brought  neither 
Spain  nor  Christendom  any  great  territorial  benefits,  but 
the  Mohammedan  sea-power  was  checked,  and  though  still 
threatening  for  more  than  a  hundred  years  to  come,  fell 
from  this  time  into  a  gradual  decline.  Lepanto  is  one  of 
the  proud  moments  of  the  history  of  Philip  and  of  Spain. 

A  triumph,  productive  at  least  of  more  immediate  and  Philip  ac 
material  results  than  Lepanto,  was  Philip's  acquisition  of  ponugai 
Portugal.  Still  it  cannot  be  said  that  this  success  was  due 
to  any  special  skill  of  his  own,  and  the  sequel  would  show 
that  it  was  hardly  a  success  at  all.  Portugal  was  the  only 
state  of  the  peninsula  of  the  Pyrenees  which  Spain  had  not 
yet  absorbed.  Frequent  marriages  between  the  royal  houses 
had,  however,  prepared  a  union  of  the  two  states.  In  1580 
the  last  native  king  of  Portugal  died,  and  Philip,  who  had  a 
fair  claim  by  reason  of  descent  (see  Genealogical  Table  IV), 
thereupon  took  possession  of  the  state  and  of  her  colonies. 
The  Portuguese,  proud  of  their  nationality  and  their  achieve- 
ments during  the  Age  of  Discoveries,  accepted  the  yoke  of 
the  greater  state  unwillingly.  The  memories  of  Portuguese 
independence  would  not  perish,  and  after  Spain  had  entered 
definitely  upon  her  decline,  and  only  forty  years  after  Phil- 
ip's death,  Portugal  rose  and  won  back  her  freedom  under 


ii6 


Spam   Under  Charles  I. 


Further  de- 
velopment of 
absolutism. 


economic 
ruin. 


a  new  royal  house,  the  House  of  Braganza  (1640).     Since 
then  Portugal  and  Spain  have  never  been  united. 

We  have  ill  understood  the  cold,  reticent,  and  obstinate 
mind  of  Philip  if  we  have  not  grasped  that  there  was  not  an 
atom  of  originality  about  it.  His  handling  of  foreign  affairs, 
where  we  have  just  followed  his  course,  was  inspired  by  his 
father's  policy,  although  he  laid  a  little  more  stress,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  spirit  of  his  time,  upon  religious  considerations. 
And  in  domestic  affairs,  too,  he  copied  his  father  slavishly, 
with  the  result  that  the  evils  already  noted  under  Charles 
were  rapidly  accentuated.  The  political  activity  of  the  peo- 
ple still  further  declined.  The  Cortes  of  Castile,  although 
continuing  to  meet  to  vote  taxes,  became  as  docile  as  an 
ancient  house-dog,  while  the  Cortes  and  the  other  free 
institutions  of  Aragon,  which  had  exhibited  a  much  higher 
degree  of  vitality  than  the  corresponding  institutions  of 
Castile,  met  with  a  staggering  blow  in  159 1.  In  that  year 
the  Aragonese  ventured  to  defy  the  authority  of  the  king 
and  of  the  Inquisition,  were  overrun  by  a  royal  army,  and 
utterly  cowed.  The  institutions,  it  is  true,  Philip,  in  spite 
of  his  victor}',  did  not  much  alter,  but  institutions,  all  history 
teaches,  are  nothing  without  their  informhig  spirit.  Thus 
absolutism  won  its  last  victory  and  held  unquestioned 
control. 

The  financial  and  economic  misery  which  merely  showed 
its  head  under  Charles  became  under  Philip  permanent 
and  frightful.  Commerce  languished,  industry  perished, 
and  agriculture  lay  in  ruins,  especially  in  the  south.  In 
the  period  of  the  Moorish  supremacy  the  south  had  by  an 
extensive  and  scientific  use  of  irrigation  been  converted  into 
one  of  the  garden  spots  of  the  world,  but  the  intolerance 
of  the  Spaniards  looked  askance  at  this  prosperity.  WTien 
Granada  was  conquered  in  1492  the  Moors  received  a 
guarantee  of  full  religious  liberty.     But  the  solemn  promises 


Her   World  Eminence  and  Her  Decay       WJ 


made  were  not  kept,  and  frequent  disturbances  among  the 
outraged  Moors  culminated  in  a  great  rising  in  1568.  When  The  Moors. 
this  was  put  down  in  1570,  after  frightful  mutual  massacres, 
Philip  resolved  to  finish  with  Granada  forever  and  at  any- 
cost.  Wholesale  banishment  was  called  in  to  complete  the 
work  of  the  Inquisition,  and  every  person  tainted  with 
Moorish  blood  was  ordered  from  the  province.  Thus  was 
the  vexatious  Moorish  problem  settled  in  Granada,  but  its 
settlement  put  an  end  to  prosperity  for  many  a  year.  Under 
the  operation  of  these  various  conditions  Spain  became  less 
and  less  able  to  pay  the  ruinous  taxes  demanded  by  its 
sovereign,  who,  however  much  he  got,  always  needed  more, 
arbitrarily  reduced  the  rate  of  interest,  and  ended  by  re- 
pudiating his  debts. 

In  what  book  of  history  or  of  romance  is  there  a  more  mov-  The  triple 

.     .      ,        ,  ,  ->    T-.     i  malady  of 

ing  Story  than  that  of  Spam  m  the  sixteenth  century?  Fortune   spain. 

showered  her  best  upon  her,  raised  for  her  the  loftiest  throne 
of  Europe,  and  set  the  New  World  under  her  feet  for  a 
foot-stool.  But  it  was  all  for  naught.  The  Inquisition  by 
enforcing  uniformit  sapped  the  nation  of  its  intellectual 
vigor,  and  absolutism  by  destroying  self-government  para- 
lyzed the  national  energy.  What  vital  germs  these  two 
insidious  agents  spared  fell  a  victim  to  the  adventurous 
and  spendthrift  policy  of  Charles  and  Philip,  which  induced 
them  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  all  the  world.  Inquisition, 
absolutism,  and  imperialism  are  the  ills  which  engulfed 
Spain  in  her  ruin. 

Philip  III.  (ic;q8-i62i),  who  succeeded  Philip  II.,  was  Permanent 

,     .  ,T  ,  11  ^     ri.-    r  •*  decline  of 

an  utterly  mcapable  man,  the  tool  and  puppet  of  his  favorites,  spain. 
In  1609  he  was  forced  to  bend  his  pride  and  conclude  with 
the  rebel  Dutch  a  twelve  years'  truce.  The  truce  implied 
recognition  of  Dutch  independence,  and  was  at  the  same 
time  a  public  acknowledgment  of  Spain's  decline.  Under 
Philip  IV.  (1621-65)  the  country  dropped  definitely  to  the 


xi8  Spain   Under  Charles  I. 

second  and  third  rank  among  European  powers,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  disgraceful  treaties  of  Westphalia  (1648)  and 
of  the  Pyrenees  (1659),  which  closed  the  long  wars  with  the 
Netherlands  and  with  France.  By  1659  the  political,  social, 
and  material  decline  of  Spain  was  patent  to  every  observer. 
Outburst  of  It  is  something  of  a  mystery  why  Spain,  during  her  decline 

ture.  under  the  later  Philips,  should  have  enjoyed  a  remarkable 

literary  and  artistic  outburst.  It  is  true  that  there  was 
no  broad  or  general  intellectual  activity;  the  Inquisition 
saw  to  it  that  no  such  movement  should  gain  ground.  But 
art  and  literature  flourished  for  a  time,  possibly  signifying 
the  last  flicker  of  that  national  energy  which  was  exhibited 
in  such  an  imposing  manner  in  the  Age  of  Discoveries.  At 
any  rate,  Spain  was  endowed  with  a  great  national  litera- 
ture, to  which  Cervantes  (d.  161 6)  contributed  his  inimitable 
"Don  Quixote,"  a  satire  on  chivalry,  floated  on  the  most 
tender  and  uproarious  humor  that  ever  tickled  poet's  brain, 
and  which  Lope  de  Vega  (d.  1635)  and  Calderon  (d.  1681) 
helped  enrich  with  a  national  drama,  inviting  comparison 
with  the  English  drama  of  the  Shakespearian  period.  At 
the  same  time  Velasquez  (d.  1660)  and  Murillo  (d.  1681) 
founded  a  national  school  of  painting  for  which  the  world 
must  remain  forever  grateful. 


CHAPTER  VII 

F2<fGLAND    UNDER    THE    TUDORS;    TRIUMPH    OF    THE    REFOR- 
MATION  UNDER   ELIZABETH    (1558-1603) 

References:  Green,  Short  History  of  the  EngHsh  People, 
Chapter  VI.  (beginning  p.  303),  Chapter  VII.;  Gar- 
diner, Student's  History  of  England,  pp.  361-481; 
Terry,  History  of  England,  pp.  512-618;  Seebohm, 
The  Oxford  Reformers;  Froude,  History  of  England 
from  the  Fall  of  Wolsey  to  the  Death  of  Elizabeth,  12 
vols.;  Burton,  History  of  Scotland,  8  vols,  (see  Vol.  IV. 
for  Mary  Stuart);  Traill,  Social  England  (see  Vol. 
III.  for  civilization  under  the  Tudors). 

Source  Readings:  More,  Utopia  (Camelot  series,  50  cents; 
Cassell's  Library,  10  cents);  Translations  and 
Reprints,  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Vol.  I.,  No.  i 
(letters  of  Henry  VIIL,  Wolsey,  Erasmus,  More,  etc.); 
Prothero,  Statutes  and  Constitutional  Documents, 
1 5 59-1 62  5;  Gee  and  Hardy,  Documents  Illustrative 
of  English  Church  History;  Robinson,  Readings,  Vol. 
II.,  Chapter  XXVII.  (Henry  VIIL,  Edward  VI., 
Mary),  Chapter  XXVIII.    (Mary  Stuart,  Elizabeth). 

Henry  VIIL  (1509-47). 

During  the  period  of  tranquillity  imposed  upon  England  England  and 
by  the  firm  administration  of  the  first  Tudor  sovereign,  learning. 
Henry  VII.,  the  country  first  began  to  show  in  a  marked  de- 
gree the  effects  of  the  revival  of  learning.  The  two  univer- 
sities, Cambridge  and  Oxford,  but  especially  Oxford,  be- 
came the  centres  of  the  new  classical  and  historical  studies 
which  had  been  brought  to  honor  again  upon  the  Continent, 

119 


I20  Eiigland  Under  the   Tiidors 

and  undertook  their  dissemination  through  the  land.  The 
fact  that  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam,  the  acknowledged  prince  of 
the  humanists,  spent  much  time  in  England  between  1498 
and  1506  added  new  zest  to  the  labors  of  the  English  schol- 
ars, with  two  of  whom,  John  Colet  and  Sir  Thomas  More, 
he  became  linked  in  enduring  bonds  of  friendship. 
John  Colet,  John  Colet  first  rose  into  prominence  as  a  lecturer  at  Ox- 

14  1519-  ford,  where  he  attracted  a  large  audience  as  an  expositor  of 
the  New  Testament.  Like  Luther,  he  was  drawn  to  the 
Apostle  Paul  by  his  simple  and  holy  personality,  and  like 
Luther,  though  many  years  before  him,  he  upheld  Paul's 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith.  Later,  because  of  his 
power  as  a  preacher,  he  was  called  to  London  to  be  dean  of 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  and  while  at  this  post  he  built  himself 
a  monument  which  has  proved  more  lasting  than  brass. 
Convinced  that  the  surest  way  to  effect  the  improvement  of 
society  was  to  begin  with  the  young,  he  founded  with  his  own 
means  St.  Paul's  school  for  boys,  where  Latin  and  Greek 
taught  in  a  fresh  way  crowded  out  the  old  and  barren  studies 
of  the  schoolmen.  St.  Paul's  school  was  a  new  departure 
in  education,  and  became  the  model  for  many  similar  foun- 
dations throughout  England. 

Sir  Thomas  Sir  Thomas  More,  after  attending  the  university,  entered 

More,  1480-       p^^jj^  jjfg^  ^^^  j.^gg  y^^gj.  jjgj^j.^  yjjj  jQ  y^^  Lord  Chan- 
cellor, the  highest  civil  honor  in  the  kingdom.     As  a  human- 
ist his  most  important  deed  was  the  publication  of  a  book 
Utopia.  called  Utopia  (15 15).     Utopia  was  an  imaginary  realm  be- 

yond the  sea  (the  word  Utopia  is  derived  from  the  Greek  and 
means  nowhere)  which,  being  grounded  on  justice,  reason, 
intelligence,  and  liberty,  nourished  a  race  of  men  and  wom- 
en who  lived  in  peace  and  happiness.  To  describe  such 
a  country  was  to  point  out  to  men  the  shortcomings  of  their 
own  state  and  society,  and  spur  them  on  to  higher  things. 
The  breadth  of  the  book  is  characteristic  of  the  author,  for 


Triumph  of  the  Reformation   Under  Elizabeth    121 


More's  implied  criticism  does  not  stop  with  ecclesiastical 
abuses  or  theological  absurdities,  but  covers  the  whole  con- 
duct of  life.  In  Utopia  education  was  general;  religious 
toleration  was  an  accepted  rule  of  state;  there  were  wise  sani- 
tary provisions  in  the  cities  to  avoid  pestilence;  and  such  per- 
fect equality  reigned  that  there  were  neither  rich  nor  poor. 
The  book  was  in  essence  a  comprehensive  socialistic  pro- 
gramme, but  in  the  eyes  of  contemporaries,  at  least,  con- 
tained matter  so  unrealizable  that  the  term  Utopian  came 
to  signify  an  amiable  and  somewhat  idle  dreamer.  Never- 
theless, many  of  the  features  of  More's  ideal  republic  have 
been  adopted  by  our  civilization  in  the  course  of  the  advanc- 
ing centuries. 

We  have  already  seen  that  it  was  such  critical  activity  as  The  revival 
this  which  prepared  the  Reformation.  England  followed  °heToreSnner 
in  the  main  the  same  lines  of  development  as  Germany,  ex-  °^  revolution, 
cept  that  no  Luther  appeared  at  the  critical  moment  to  turn 
the  accumulated  discontent  against  Rome  and  head  a  move- 
ment of  revolt.  Revolt  came  in  due  time  in  England,  too, 
but  it  was  carried  through  by  the  king  in  person,  as  a  last 
and  desperate  remedy  in  a  most  unsavory  divorce  suit.  We 
shall  examine  this  incident,  but  should  guard  even  now 
against  giving  it  a  greater  importance  than  it  merits.  Henry 
VIII.  did  indeed  snap  the  ties  binding  England  to  Rome, 
but  he  did  not  make  England  Protestant.  No  man  and  no 
sovereign  could  effect  such  a  change  in  the  realm  of  the  mind. 
The  Protestantism  of  England  was  a  slow  mental  evolution, 
which  did  not  become  confirmed  in  the  blood  till  a  genera- 
tion later,  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth;  and  it  was,  like  its  Ger- 
man counterpart,  the  outgrowth  of  the  humanistic  move- 
ment. 

Henry  VIII.  mounted  the  throne  of  England  in  1509,  on   The  accession 
the  death  of  his  father,  Henry  VII.,  famous  as  the  healer  of  f^^""''^^"^'' 
the  civil  woes  of  England  and  founder  of  the  "  strong  mon- 


122 


England  Under  the   Tudors 


Breach  be- 
tween Henry 
and  the 

humanists. 


Henry's  for- 
eign policy. 


archy."  He  was  not  yet  twenty  years  old,  a  youth  of  attract- 
ive presence,  skilled  in  gentlemanly  sports,  such  as  riding  and 
tennis,  condescending  with  all  people,  free-handed  and  fond 
of  pageantry,  and  altogether  the  idol  of  his  nation,  which 
received  him  with  acclamations  of  joy.  And  not  least  exult- 
ant over  his  coming  to  power  were  the  English  humanists. 
For  Henry  had  been  brought  into  the  circle  of  the  new  learn- 
ing by  his  tutors,  and  was  reputed  to  be  favorably  inclined 
toward  it. 

The  joy  of  the  humanists  over  the  accession  of  Henry  was 
not  destined  to  last  long.  The  king,  indeed,  distinguished 
the  propagandists  of  the  new  learning  by  various  honorary 
appointments;  but  he  soon  showed  that  he  did  not  take  their 
principles  of  reform  of  Church  and  state  seriously,  would 
adopt  of  their  programme  only  what  suited  his  caprice,  and 
was  clearly  determined  upon  following  the  bent  of  his  own 
mind.  Under  the  smooth  exterior  of  the  king  there  appeared 
an  iron  personality,  which,  as  the  years  rolled  on,  tossed 
aside  more  and  more  all  restraints  upon  its  despotic  will. 

A  few  years  sufficed  to  show  that  Henry  was  not  so  much 
concerned  with  realizing  Utopia  in  England,  as  with  raising 
his  own  and  his  country's  prestige  by  playing  a  role  in 
European  politics.  His  father  had  sat  quietly  at  home,  had 
perfected  the  administration,  and  amassed  a  considerable 
treasure.  Henry  VIII.  saw  immediately  that  with  France 
and  Spain  holding  each  other  in  check  and  engaged  in 
permanent  enmity  over  Italy,  there  was  a  splendid  oppor- 
tunity for  an  ambitious  sovereign,  who  was  free  to  throw  his 
weight  into  the  scales  for  either  party.  It  is  true  that  the 
French-Spanish  controversy  hardly  touched  the  interests  of 
England;  still,  an  English  ruler  of  the  sixteenth  century  could 
not  forget  that  less  than  a  hundred  years  before  a  warlike 
predecessor  had  been  crowned  king  of  France,  and  that  from 
the  port  of  Calais  on  the  French  coast,  the  last  stronghold 


Triumph  of  the  Reforircation   Under  Elizabeth    123 

on  the  Continent  which  floated  the  English  flag,  a  descent 
could  be  n;ade  at  any  time  upon  Paris.  That  Henry  there- 
fore kept  a  sharp  lookout  across  the  channel  requires  neither 
apology  nor  explanation.  If  in  the  eternal  warfare  between 
France  and  Spain  England  threw  in  her  lot  with  Spain, 
she  might  ask  in  reward  the  restitution  of  a  part  of  France. 
This  speculation  determined  Henry's  general  attitude.  But 
though  leaning  by  preference  toward  Spain,  contingencies 
might  arise  which  would  make  it  advantageous  for  him  to 
comport  himself  for  a  time  as  the  ally  of  France.  In  that 
case  he  could  demand  some  territorial  reward,  or,  if  that 
was  too  remote  a  chance,  could  stipulate  for  French  gold 
in  payment  for  his  efforts. 

Such  in  outline  was  Henry's  foreign  policy,  modified.  Relations  of 
however,  by  one  factor— Scotland.  Henry  VII.  had  in-  fcofid.^"'^ 
augurated  a  policy  of  reconciliation  with  Scotland,  which  be 
hoped  would  lead  in  the  course  of  time  to  a  complete  union. 
In  this  expectation  he  had  married  his  oldest  daughter,. 
Margaret,  to  the  Scottish  king,  James  IV.  But  matters  did 
not  progress  as  favorably  as  he  had  planned.  The  enmity 
between  Scots  and  English  was  bred  too  deep  in  the  bone  to 
be  easily  eradicated,  and  the  Scots,  suspicious  for  centuries 
of  their  more  powerful  neighbor,  had  looked  so  steadily 
toward  France  for  aid  and  protection  that  they  could  not 
abandon  the  habit.  A  war  of  England  with  France  had 
generally  in  the  past  brought  Scotland  into  the  field  with  the 
object  of  making  a  diversion  in  favor  of  France  along  the 
northern  border,  and  this  traditional  alliance,  which  caught 
England  between  two  fires,  was  usually  maintained  during 
Henry's  reign.  Thus  Henry  was  obliged  to  wage  frequent 
war  with  Scotland,  but  only  in  moments  of  intense  resent- 
ment did  he  forget  what  we  may  name  the  Tudor  policy, 
with  reference  to  the  northern  kingdom,  of  reconciliation  and 
ultimate  union. 


124  England  Under  the   Tudors 

Henry's  wars.  After  these  general  remarks  we  can  dispense  with  follow- 
ing in  detail  the  intricate  game  which  Henry  played  upon 
the  diplomatic  chess-board  of  Europe.  He  joined  the  Pope 
and  Spain  in  the  Holy  League  of  15 12,  the  object  of  which 
was  to  drive  France  from  Italy.  When  Emperor  Charles  Vo 
in  152 1  renewed  the  war  against  France,  Henry  again  fought 
shoulder  to  shoulder  with  Spain,  until  the  great  victory  of 
Pavia  and  the  capture  of  the  French  king  frightened  him 
with  the  spectre  of  a  universal  Spanish  domination  and  drove 
him  for  a  time  into  the  arms  of  France.  Late  in  his  reign, 
in  1543,  he  joined  the  emperor  once  more  in  an  attack  upon 
Francis  I-,  in  which  the  chief  English  success  was  the  capture 
of  Boulogne.  During  these  wars  Scotland  was  very  trouble- 
some and  several  times  invaded  England,  though  with  small 
effect,  since  at  Flodden  (15 13)  and  at  Sol  way  (1542)  her 
armies  were  crushingly  defeated.  To  sum  up  we  may  say 
that  Henry  won  small  profit  for  England  from  his  military 
enterprises,  but  that  he  acquired  at  least  a  proud  personal 
position  as  a  factor  in  international  politics. 

Wolsey.  The  favorite  adviser  of  Henry  in  the  early  period  of  his 

reign  was  Thomas  Wolsey.  Wolsey  was  a  commoner  by 
birth,  but  having  joined  the  clergy  rose  rapidly  by  virtue 
of  his  talents  from  post  to  post,  until  the  king's  favor  won 
for  him  the  archbishopric  of  York  and  at  the  same  time 
raised  him  to  the  position  of  Lord  Chancellor,  the  highest 
post  in  the  civil  administration  of  the  realm  (15 15).  His 
civil  position  he  filled  honorably  on  the  whole,  proving  him- 
self an  able  administrator  and  exercising  a  check  upon  the 
king's  martial  inclinations,  but  his  immersion  in  political 
affairs  led  him  to  neglect  his  spiritual  functions  and  filled 
him  with  a  sense  of  importance  which  induced  him  to  order 
his  life  on  a  scale  of  munificence  altogether  out  of  keeping 
with  the  English  conception  of  a  churchman.  Stimulated 
by  the  criticism  of  the  humanists,  Wolsey  undertook  to  con- 


TrijunpJi  of  the  Reformation   Under  Elizabeth    125 


sider  some  of  the  abuses  of  the  Church,  but  he  was  not 
yet  launched  upon  his  enterprise  when  Luther's  theses 
against  Indulgences  (15 17)  made  the  Reformation  the  ques- 
tion of  the  hour.  The  development  of  England's  attitude 
toward  the  greatest  contemporary  issue  is  the  kernel  of 
Henry's  reign. 

Henry  watched  Luther's  first  attack  upon  the  Papacy  and  Henry's  atti 

,.  .....  .  Tf^  1-    tude  toward 

Catholic  doctrme  with  instinctive  aversion.  In  fact,  such  Luther, 
was  his  resentment  that  he  did  not  disdain  to  descend  into 
the  lists  in  person  against  Luther,  and  in  152 1  published  a 
vehement  pamphlet,  whe'ein  he  defended  the  sacraments 
and  the  authority  of  the  Pope.  In  return  the  gratified 
Leo  X.  conferred  upon  Henry  the  title-  ^till  used  by  Eng- 
lish sovereigns — of  Defender  of  the  Faith.  Of  such  nature 
was  the  understanding  between  Pope  and  king  in  Henry's 
early  days.  In  another  ten  years  the  wind  had  veered 
and  couriers  were  speeding  from  Rome  not  with  messages 
of  friendship,  but  with  bulls  of  excommunication.  This 
radical  change  was  brought  about  by  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances of  Henry's  marriage  and  his  suit  for  divorce. 

Henry's  marriage  deserves  close  consideration.  The  reader  Henr>-'s 
will  remember  that  Henry  VII.,  in  pursuance  of  his  peace  '"^'^^8'^ 
policy,  had  sought  to  associate  himself  with  Spain.  The 
outcome  of  this  political  intimacy  was  a  contract  of  espousal, 
by  which  Arthur,  the  prince  of  Wales,  was  married  to 
Catharine,  daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  Shortly 
after  the  ceremony  Arthur  died,  and  as  the  desire  for  the 
alliance  continued  as  before,  the  idea  naturally  occurred  to 
the  families  concerned  to  marry  Arthur's  widow  to  his 
surviving  brother,  Henry.  However,  an  obstacle  to  this 
project  was  offered  by  a  law  of  the  Church,  which  forbade 
a  man  to  marry  his  deceased  brother's  wife.  In  this  dilemma 
Pope  Julius  II.  when  appealed  to  had  recourse  to  his  dis- 
pensing powers,  by  virtue  of  which  he  could  make  a  law  non- 


126 


England  Under  the   Tudors 


The  dispensa- 
tion. 


Henry  desires 
to  be  divorced. 


Henry  desires 
the  Pope  to 
annul  the 
dispensation. 


operative  in  a  particular  case.  He  issued  what  is  called  a 
papal  dispensation,  and  on  the  strength  of  this  the  marriage 
took  place  in  1509.  Now  it  will  be  readily  understood  that 
if  the  Pope,  as  Luther  was  affirming  every  day  with  increasing 
violence,  was  an  impostor,  the  exercise  of  the  dispensing 
power  was  a  usurpation,  the  law  remained  the  law  what- 
ever happened,  and  Henry's  marriage  was  illegal.  In  ad- 
dition, therefore,  to  the  natural  inclination  of  a  despotic 
mind  to  uphold  the  cause  of  authority  everywhere  and  at  all 
times,  Henry  had  a  very  personal  reason  for  wanting  to 
see  Luther  put  down  and  the  sovereignty  of  the  Pope  raised 
above  reproach  and  challenge.  Thus  it  happened  that 
Henry  crossed  pens  with  Luther  and  became  the  Defender 
of  the  Faith. 

But  time  brings  about  surprising  changes.  Only  a  few 
years  after  Henry  had  broken  a  lance  in  behalf  of  the  Papacy, 
his  attitude  toward  his  marriage  altered.  He  had  hitherto 
shown  much  attachment  to  his  queen,  but  now  he  thought 
he  had  weighty  reasons  for  divorce  from  her.  He  had  had 
several  children  by  her,  but  only  one  child,  Mary,  had  sur- 
vived infancy,  and  owing  to  Queen  Catharine's  age  there 
was  no  hope  of  further  offspring.  Even  if  Mary  had  not 
been  a  very  sickly  child,  the  king  might  well  feel  that  he  was 
playing  a  dangerous  game  to  stake  the  succession  upon  one 
fragile  life.  On  dynastic  grounds,  therefore,  Henry  felt 
troubled  and  desired  to  marry  again.  But  he  had  also  an 
incentive  of  a  more  personal  nature.  The  aging  Catharine 
had  long  since  lost  her  attractiveness  for  him,  and  he  was 
now  madly  infatuated  with  her  young  and  charming  maid 
of  honor,  Anne  Boleyn.  In  1527  he  first  whispered  to  his 
confidant,  Wolsey,  the  word  divorce. 

Questions  of  marriage  and  divorce  belonged,  as  we  have 
seen,  to  the  exclusive  competence  of  the  Church,  and  the 
Church  absolutely  refused  to  countenance  divorce  except  in 


Triumph  of  the  Reformation   Under  Elizabeth    127 


certain  exceptional  circumstances.    Henry,  however,  thought 
he  had  a  very  strong  and  simple  case.      The  dispensation  on 
which  his  marriage  rested  he  now  declared  in  his  altered 
frame  of  mind  to  be  defective.     The  reigning  Pope,  who 
was  Clement  VII.,  would  have  only  to  acknowledge  that 
defectiveness  and  cancel  the  dispensation,  wherewith  the 
marriage  would  be  dissolved  without   further   ado.     This 
simple  course  Wolsey,  who  had  meanwhile  in  addition  to  his 
other  dignities  become  cardinal  and  papal  legate,  undertook 
to  urge  upon  the  Pope,   but  without  avail.     The  Pope, 
partly  perhaps  from  conscientious  scruples,  certainly  because 
he  did  not  dare  offend  the  powerful  emperor  Charles  V. — 
who  as  head  of  the  Spanish  house  championed  the  cause  of 
his  aunt,  the  English  queen — proceeded  with  extreme  cau- 
tion.   He  would  examine,  he  would  not  pronounce.     In 
1529  he  agreed  to  send  to  England  a  legate,  Campeggio,  who 
together  with  Wolsey,  already  on  the  ground,  was  to  hold  a 
legatine  court  and  ascertain  the  facts.     The  king  put  aside 
his  dignity  so  far  as  to  appear  in  court  like  a  common  suitor, 
but  even  this  humiliating  act  profited  him  nothing,  for  the 
Pope,  still  proceeding  on  his  original  plan  of  delay,  sud- 
denly transferred  the  case  to  Rome.    Henry  was  furious  at 
this  crumbling  of  his  hopes,  and  in  his  eagerness  to  make 
a  scapegoat  of  someone,  let  fall  the  weight  of  his  displeasure 
on  the  head  of  Wolsey.     He  stripped  him  of  his  civil  honors  Wdsey's  di* 
and  exiled  him  to  the  country;  still  unappeased,  he  had  just 
ordered  his  arrest,  as  a  measure  preparatory  to  his  execution, 
\vhen  the  great  cardinal  was  stricken  ill  and  died  (1530). 
At  the  last  he  cast  a  regretful  backward  look  upon  his  life, 
using  to  his  attendants  words  which  Shakespeare  has  em- 
ployed almost  literally  in  his  play  of  Henry  VIII.:  "Had 
I  but   served  my  God  with  half  the   zeal  I   served  my 
king,  He  would  not  in  mine  age  have  left  me  naked  to 


mine  enemies." 


128 


England  Under  the  Tudors 


Henry  resolves 
to  renounce 
the  Pope. 


Destruction 
of  the  bonds 
between 
England  and 
Rome. 


What  to  do  now?  Almost  any  other  man  would  have 
given  up,  but  Henry  had  the  kind  of  will  which  grows  ter- 
rible with  opposition.  If  the  Pope  could  not  be  got  to  act 
in  what  the  king  considered  a  just  and  necessary  case,  he 
would  repudiate  the  Pope  altogether  and  establish  the 
English  Church  on  a  purely  national  basis.  Further,  he 
would  no  longer  permit  the  Chinch  to  remain  an  independent 
power  in  the  state,  but  would  reduce  it  to  subjection  to  the 
civil  power,  which  was,  of  course,  himself.  The  officers  of  a 
church  cut  off  from  Rome  on  the  one  hand,  and  depend- 
ent on  the  king  upon  the  other,  could  be  trusted  to  settle 
the  divorce  question  as  the  king  desired.  Upon  this  plan 
Henry  proceeded,  but  not  without  frequent  pauses,  to  give 
the  Pope  time  to  reflect  upon  the  dangers  he  was  running. 
For  his  separation  from  the  Papacy  was  a  matter  of  policy, 
not  of  conviction,  and  he  would  have  avoided  it  at  any  cost 
short  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  divorce.  As  the  Pope  remained 
deaf  both  to  Henry's  threats  and  pleas,  the  anti-papal  en- 
actments succeeded  each  other  without  interruption,  until 
every  cable  binding  England  to  Rome  had  been  slipped. 
Let  us  follow  the  leading  steps  in  this  procedure. 

The  assembly  of  the  English  clergy  is  called  Convocation. 
In  1 53 1  Convocation  was  summoned  and  a  decree  wrested 
from  the  clergy,  declaring  Henry  Head  of  the  Church; 
owing,  however,  to  the  qualms  expressed  by  many  of  the 
members  the  qualifying  phrase  was  added,  "as  far  as  the 
law  of  Christ  allows."  The  next  year  the  king  destroyed  the 
legislative  independence  of  the  clergy  by  requiring  them  to 
permit  him  to  revise  their  statutes  and  to  adopt  no  new  laws 
without  his  consent.  By  this  means  he  had  put  the  English 
clergy,  so  to  speak,  into  his  pocket.  Now  it  remained  only 
to  repeal  the  laws  by  which  Rome  possessed  a  foothold  in 
England.  These  laws  being  acts  of  Parliament  could  be 
repealed  only  by  Parliament,  which  body  Henry  accordingly 


Triumph  of  the  Reformation   Under  Elizabeth    129 


summoned,  and  by  mingled  threats  and  persuasion  bent 

to  his  will.     In  1532  Parliament  abolished  the  payment  to 

Rome  of  First  Fruits,  which  were  the  first  year's  revenues  of   First  Fruit 

ecclesiastical  benefices  and  constituted  the  chief  income  that 

the  Pope  drew  from  England.    The  next  year  followed  the 

prohibition  to  appeal  a  case  to  any  court  outside  the  king-  Appeals  to 

.  ,  1     •       •      1  1        Rome  pro- 

dom.     This  gave  to  the  English  ecclesiastical  courts   the  hibitccL 
right  to  pronounce,  and  pronounce  finally,  upon  the  king's 
suit.    And  now  longer  delay  was  neither  necessary  nor  pos- 
sible.    In  February,  1533,  Cranmer,  a  creature  of  Henry's   Cranmer. 
and  half  a  Protestant  at  heart,  was  made  archbishop  of 
Canterbury   and  primate  of  England;   and   four  months 
later  he  pronounced  the  desired  sentence  of  divorce  in  his 
own  court  and  sanctioned  the  coronation  of  Anne  Boleyn  AnneBoleyn 
as  queen.     When  the  Pope  heard  of  these  doings  he  at  last  queen. 
recovered  his  power  of  unambiguous  speech  and  fulminated 
at  Henry  a  bull  of  excommunication    (July,  1533).     But 
Henry  was  now  secure  and  could  meet  the  Pope's  wrath  as 
an  equal.     In  1534  he  had  ParHament  pass  a  culminating 
act,  the  Act  of  Supremacy,  by  which  the  last  traces  of  con-  The  Act  of 
nection  with  Rome  were  removed,  and  the  king  confirmed   ij^^f"^^*^^* 
in  the  title  already  voted  by  the  clergy  of  Supreme  Head  of 
the  English  Church,  to  which  there  was  now  attached  no 
qualification  whatever. 

Thus  while  the  English  Church  became  national  by  being  Henry  sup- 

.       ,       ,         ...  1  ,  ,  presses  opp«! 

cut  off  from  Rome,  it  also  lost  its  independence  and  became  tion. 
subject  to  the  state.  Naturally  there  were  many  who  re- 
gretted these  changes.  If  they  thoughtlessly  crossed  Henry's 
path  they  were  not  likely  to  escape  with  their  lives.  His 
marriage  with  Anne  Boleyn,  the  Act  of  Supremacy,  and  all 
that  hung  thereby  could  only  be  criticised  at  the  risk  of  death. 
When  Sir  Thomas  More,  the  humanist,  although  he  had 
been  Henry's  chancellor,  and  was  the  most  famous  English- 
man alive,  refused  to  take  the  oath  involving  acquiescence 


I30 


England  Under  the  Tudors 


Henry  makes 

Protestant 

concessions. 


The  suppres- 
sion of  the 
monasteries. 


in  these  high-handed  measures,  he  was  convicted  of  treason 
and  hurried  to  the  block  (1535). 

From  the  first  it  was  an  interesting  question  how  far  Henry 
would  depart  from  the  accepted  Catholic  system  and  ap- 
proach the  Protestant  position.  In  his  own  heart  and  mind 
he  was  as  much  a  Catholic  before  as  after  the  separation. 
The  sole  distinction  between  Henry  then  and  Henry  now 
was  that  he  had  taken,  as  regards  England,  the  Pope's  place 
at  the  head  of  the  Church.  But  to  a  certain  extent  he  could 
not  fail  to  be  influenced  by  the  Protestant  Reformation,  for 
the  Pope  and  the  Roman  Catholic  world  had  solemnly  re- 
pudiated him,  and  he  was  just  then  under  the  influence  of 
a  counsellor,  Thomas  Cromwell  by  name,  who  entertained 
secret  Lutheran  sympathies.  A  number  of  minor  changes 
were  therefore  carried  through.  Every  church  was  ordered 
to  provide  itself  with  an  English  Bible  for  general  use.  In- 
dulgences were  condemned,  pilgrimages  forbidden,  and  a 
few  miraculous  images  destroyed.  But  the  only  incisive 
innovation  was  the  suppression  of  the  monasteries. 

We  have  seen  on  several  occasions  that  monasticism  was 
the  feature  of  the  Church  which  chiefly  invited  the  ridicule 
and  criticism  of  the  humanists.  On  this  account  wherever 
the  Reformation  was  victorious  monasticism  was  the  institu- 
tion which  was  first  thrown  overboard.  Doubtless  thert 
was  exaggeration  in  the  tales  of  depravity  circulated  by  such 
virulent  enemies  of  the  orders  as  Hutten  and  Erasmus;  still, 
where  there  was  so  much  smoke  it  is  safe  to  assume  there 
was  some  fire.  Even  under  Wolsey,  long  before  the  policy 
of  separation  was  entertained,  a  number  of  smaller  institu- 
tions had  been  discontinued,  and  when  Cromwell  now 
suggested  a  plan  of  suppression  on  a  much  larger  scale 
the  king  gave  his  consent,  prompted  in  part,  no  doubt,  by 
the  immense  material  advantage  which  would  accrue  to  the 
royal   exchequer   from   the   confiscation   of   the   extensive 


TriiimpJi  of  the  Reformation   Under  Elizabeth    131 

monastic  lands.  So  Cromwell,  as  a  preliminar)'  step,  sent 
agents  through  the  land  to  investigate  the  monastic  houses. 
Their  reports  were  steeped  in  gross  exaggeration,  but  they 
served  the  purpose  of  the  minister,  for  Cromwell  presented 
them  to  Parliament,  and  influenced  that  body,  outraged  by 
the  thought  of  so  much  wickedness,  to  adopt  the  desired 
legislation.  In  1536  a  bill  was  passed  ordering  the  sup- 
pression of  the  lesser  houses — the  exact  provision  was  of  all 
houses  of  less  than  ;^20o  revenue — but  Henry  and  Crom- 
well managed  to  include  the  richer  institutions  as  well  by 
bringing  pressure  to  bear  upon  the  abbots.  Before  five 
years  had  rolled  by,  monasteries  in  England  were  a  thing  of 
the  past,  and  the  vast  tracts  which  had  fallen  home  to  the 
king  had  been  given  to  greedy  courtiers,  or  sold  to  meet  the 
royal  necessities,  or  dedicated  in  a  few  honorable  instances  to 
the  support  of  schools  and  churches. 

The  majority  of  the  English  people,  as  far  as  it  is  possible  The  English 
to  ascertain  their  attitude  toward  the  ecclesiastical  revolution  [1^° royar^^^ 
inaugurated  by  Henry,  gave  their  hearty  consent  to  the  pol'cy, 
separation  from  Rome,  for  the  Papacy  had  for  some  time 
past  been  growing  in  unpopularity;  but  though  they  in- 
dorsed the  Act  of  Supremacy,  they  were,  like  Henry,  thor- 
oughly conservative  and  Catholic  in  spirit.  Apart  from  a 
small  band  of  reformers,  influenced  from  the  Continent,  they 
had  no  desire  for  any  change  in  the  familiar  features  of  the 
Church.  Therefore,  the  suppression  of  the  monasteries 
caused  much  discontent,  and  in  the  backward  northern 
counties,  where  attachment  to  tradition  was  particularly 
strong,  led  to  a  dangerous  revolt,  known  as  the  Pilgrimage 
of  Grace  (1536).  Henry,  as  might  be  expected,  put  down  the 
insurrection  with  vigor,  but  did  not  fail  to  read  the  lesson 
which  it  conveyed.  From  policy  now  as  well  as  from  con- 
viction he  refused  to  go  farther  along  the  path  blazed  by  the 
Lutheran  princes  of  Germany.     For  the  rest  of  his  life  he 


132 


England  Under  the  Tudors 


Henry's  doc- 
trine remains 
Catholic. 


The  Six  Ar- 
ticles of  1539- 


Execution  of 

Cromwell, 

1540. 


His  six 
tnarriages. 


was  content  to  stand  fast,  force  the  acknowledgment  of  his 
supremacy  upon  his  subjects,  and  keep  the  service  and  the 
doctrine  of  his  Church  free  from  the  taint  of  Protestantism. 
From  time  to  time,  in  order  to  remove  all  doubt,  he  informed 
his  subjects  what  they  were  authorized  to  believe,  and  these 
various  pronouncements  contained  very  little  to  which  a 
strict  partisan  of  Rome  might  not  have  set  his  name.  Thus 
the  confession  of  faith  known  as  the  Six  Articles,  which  he 
had  Parliament  pass  in  1539,  upheld  such  Catholic  doctrines 
as  the  sacrament  of  the  Mass,  auricular  confession,  and  the 
celibacy  of  the  clergy,  and  made  diversity  of  opinion  pun- 
ishable with  death.  Under  such  a  regime  there  was  no  peace 
in  England  either  for  supporters  of  the  Pope  or  for  adherents 
of  Protestantism,  and  both  these  groups  were  vehemently 
persecuted.  Cromwell  himself,  though  his  fall  was  coupled 
with  other  causes,  could  not  be  saved  by  a  record  of  long  and 
faithful  service,  when  his  secret  support  of  the  religious 
radicals  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  king.  In  1540  he 
was  charged  with  treason  and  beheaded.  The  only  safety 
for  Englishmen  lay  in  the  quiet  acceptance  of  the  system 
which  their  masterful  sovereign  had  imposed,  and  which 
was  substantially  Catholic  except  for  the  separation  from 
the  venerable  capital  of  Rome. 

A  personal  page  in  Henry's  history  demands  at  least  pass- 
ing recognition.  It  presents  the  story  of  his  marriages. 
His  native  brute  force,  which  served  him  well  in  politics  by 
enabling  him  to  impose  his  will  triumphantly  on  his  environ- 
ment, stands  out,  in  the  tenderer  associations  of  the  family, 
in  appalling  nakedness.  We  have  already  followed  the  trag- 
edy of  Catharine  of  Aragon  to  the  coronation  of  Anne  Bo- 
leyn.  Anne  Boleyn  gave  birth  to  a  daughter,  Elizabeth,  and 
soon  afterward  was  executed  on  the  charge  of  unfaithful- 
ness (1536).  The  next  wife,  Jane  Seymour,  died  in  child- 
bed, leaving  a  son,  Edward.     The  fourth  wife,  a  German 


Triumph  of  the  Reformation   Under  Elizabeth    133 


princess,  Anne  of  Cleves,  did  not  suit  Henry  at  all,  and  was 
married  only  to  be  immediately  divorced  (1540)-  As  the 
fifth  wife,  Catharine  Howard,  proved  untrue,  she  was  be- 
headed (1542),  and  so  room  was  made  for  a  sixth,  Catharine 
Parr,  who  managed,  by  dutiful  submission,  to  outlive  her 
royal  consort. 

Henry  died  in  i  C47 .     Before  his  death  he  had  been  granted  The  sue- 

.         cession,. 

by  Parliament  the  right  to  regulate  the  succession  by  will. 
Accordingly,  he  devised  his  crown  to  his  son  Edward,  with 
the  provision  that  it  pass,  on  the  failure  of  Edward's  blood, 
to  his  daughters  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  in  the  order  named. 
As  Edward  was  but  a  boy  nine  years  old,  his  father  provided 
further,  during  his  son's  minority,  a  council  of  regency,  at 
the  head  of  which  he  put  Edward's  maternal  uncle,  the  duke 
of  Somerset. 

Edward  VI.  (1547-53)- 
Henry  was  hardly  dead  when  the  council  of  regency  met,  The  Protector 

^  .  .  •      11  •         J    Somerset  pur- 

and  without  regard  to  Henry's  wishes  practically  resigned  suesaProtes- 
its  powers  to  Somerset,  who  was  authorized  to  assume  the  tantpohcy. 
title  of  protector.  This  measure  was  of  decided  consequence 
because  Somerset  was  a  man  of  unusual  religious  tolerance 
and  was  well  inclined  toward  the  reforming  party.  As  a 
majority  in  the  council  held  similar  opinions,  Somerset  had 
no  difficulty  in  inaugurating  an  era  of  Protestant  legislation, 
especially  as  he  was  heartily  seconded  in  his  policy  by  Cran- 
mer,  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  We  have  herewith 
touched  upon  the  real  significance  of  the  rule  of  the  pro- 
tector. The  English  Church,  which  Henry  had  zealously 
protected  from  theological  innovations,  was  now  for  the  first 
time  launched  upon  Protestant  waters. 

If  we  admit  that  it  was  probably  impossible  to  keep  the  Protestant 

,    ,  ,         .  ,       ,        /".   ii     !•      changes. 

English  Church,  after  its  initial  breach  with  the  Catholic 
world,  exactly  where  Henry  left  it,  we  shall  incline  to  defend 


134 


England  Under  the   Tudors 


The  First 
Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer, 
1549- 


The  agrarian 
revolution. 


Enclosures. 


Somerset  against  the  charge  of  precipitate  change  which  is 
frequently  made  against  him.  Convinced  that  a  reform 
could  not  be  staved  off,  he  resolved  to  swing  wide  the  door 
to  Protestant  influence.  English  was  gradually  substituted 
for  Latin  in  the  services,  priests  were  allowed  to  marry, 
the  use  of  holy  water  was  discontinued,  and  all  images  were 
removed  from  the  churches.  Finally,  to  lend  dignity  to  the 
conduct  of  the  new  services  in  English,  there  was  published 
in  1549  the  First  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  which  vindicates 
the  essential  conservatism  of  Somerset's  revolution,  for  Arch- 
bishop Cranmer,  who  is  mainly  responsible  for  it,  based  it 
largely  upon  the  ancient  Catholic  breviaries. 

But  Somerset's  fall  was  at  hand.  Not  because  of  dis- 
content caused  by  these  religious  innovations,  at  least  not  in 
a  marked  degree,  but  owing  primarily  to  prolonged  economic 
misery,  the  peasantry  of  England  rose  in  the  summer  of  1549 
and  threatened  civil  war.  The  troubles  among  the  English 
peasants,  who  were  freemen,  bore  little  resemblance  to  the 
situation  which  provoked  the  German  peasants,  held  in  gall- 
ing serfdom,  to  wage  the  bloody  war  of  1525.  The  main 
complaint  of  the  English  peasants  was  directed  against  what 
were  called  enclosures.  The  great  English  landlords  had 
discovered  that  their  returns  were  larger  from  sheep-herding 
than  agriculture,  owing  to  the  steady  demand  for  wool  in 
the  markets  of  the  Netherlands.  They  therefore,  by  letting 
their  lands  run  to  pasture  and  enclosing  them,  with  perhaps 
the  addition  of  the  common  lands  of  which  the  whole  village 
had  once  had  the  use,  threw  hundreds  of  peasants  out  of 
work  and  occasioned  great  misery.  This  conversion  of  ag- 
ricultural land  to  pasture  had  been  going  on  for  decades,  and 
many  were  the  laws  by  which  the  government  had  tried  to 
put  a  stop  to  it.  But  economic  causes,  operating  like  forces 
of  nature,  are  stronger  than  legislation,  and  the  peasants 
were  not  relieved.     When  in  1549  they  rose,  Somerset,  who 


Trinmp]i  of  the  Reformation   Under  Elizabeth    135 


had  a  heart  that  beat  for  the  oppressed,  did  not  hesitate  to 
declare  his  sympathy  with  them.  The  rest  of  the  council, 
members  to  a  man  of  the  landlord  class,  waited  until  the 
army  of  the  government  had  scattered  the  insurgent  hosts 
and  then  proceeded  to  rid  themselves  of  the  traitor  in  their 
midst.  In  October  Somerset  was  arrested  and  deposed.  The  fall  of 
and  although  he  was  allowed  to  live  for  a  while,  his  oppo-  j,^^, 
nents  did  not  feel  perfectly  secure  until  his  head  had  been 
severed  from  his  body.     He  was  executed  in  1552. 

The  leader  of  the  landlord  party  in  the  council  which  had  Northumber- 
caused  the  overthrow  of  the  protector  was  Warwick,  created  trol. 
afterward  duke  of  Northumberland.  He  became  Somer- 
set's successor  as  real  governor  of  the  kingdom,  without, 
however,  assuming  the  title  of  protector.  He  was  a  clever, 
unscrupulous,  ambitious  man,  who,  although  he  had  no  par- 
ticular religious  convictions,  became  loud  in  his  profession 
of  the  Protestant  faith  when  he  discovered  that  a  majority  of 
his  colleagues  were  in  favor  of  it.  He  not  only  adopted  Som- 
erset's programme,  but  multiplied  and  sharpened  its  meas- 
ures. Now  first  occurred  violent  scenes  of  iconoclasm  in 
England,  when  the  people,  incited  by  the  so-called  "hot  gos- 
pellers," entered  the  churches  and  indiscriminately  broke 
altars,  statuary,  and  stained-glass  windows.  Now,  too,  came  Radical  Prot- 
persecution  of  orthodox  Catholics,  although  the  government 
never  entirely  lost  the  tolerant  quality  impressed  upon  it  by 
Somerset.  In  1552  there  was  issued  the  Second  Book  of 
Common  Prayer,  which  was  again  largely  the  work  of 
Cranmer,  and  differed  from  the  earlier  edition  in  the  more   Protestant 

rt->i       -1^  service  book 

Protestant  turn  given  to  many  of  its  passages,     ine  rorty-   and  creed, 
two  Articles  of  Religion — a  new  confession  of  faith — fol- 
lowed, and  therewith  the  reconstruction  of  Henry's  national 
Church  on  Protestant  liijes  was   completed.     An  Act  of 
Uniformity  imposed  the  reformed  Church  upon  the  nation. 

The   Protestant   revolution   of  Edward's  reign  was,   as  The  boy  king. 


136 


England  Under  the   Tudors 


Edward 
changes  the 
law  of 
succession. 


we  have  seen,  the  work  of  Somerset  and  Northumberland. 
Nevertheless,  the  king,  who  was,  as  is  frequently  the  case 
with  feeble  children,  a  boy  of  remarkable  precocity,  followed 
the  religious  changes  with  intense  sympathy.  When  he  was 
twelve  years  old  the  German  reformer  Bucer  wrote  of  himr 
"No  study  enjoys  his  favor  as  much  as  the  Bible."  His 
favorite  diversion  was  a  theological  discussion,  which  he 
would  follow  with  a  countenance  whence  every  touch  of 
childish  grace  had  been  banished  by  an  unnatural  austerity. 
Such  a  boy  was  only  too  likely  to  exhaust  in  a  very  few 
years  his  low  measure  of  vitality.  Early  in  1553  Northum- 
berland perceived  that  Edward  was  dying.  By  Henry's  will 
the  succession  would  now  fall  to  Mary,  who,  like  her  Spanish 
mother  Catharine,  was  a  devout  Catholic.  Northumber- 
land and  the  governing  clique,  with  their  Protestant  record, 
had  everything  to  fear  from  her,  and  in  order  to  secure  him- 
self and  them  he  played  upon  the  young  king's  Protestant 
conscience  with  such  skill  that  he  persuaded  him  to  devise 
his  crown  away  from  his  sisters  Mary  and  Elizabeth  upon 
his  cousin,  Lady  Jane  Grey,  who  could  trace  her  lineage 
back  to  Henry  VII. ^  In  Northumberland's  eyes  Lady  Jane 
not  only  had  the  advantage  of  being  a  Protestant,  who  would 
presumably  sympathize  with  his  religious  measures,  but  as 
he  had  lately  married  her  to  one  of  his  own  sons,  Guilford 
Dudley,  he  might  hope  through  these  young  and  inexperi- 
enced people  to  perpetuate  his  power.  It  was  a  base  and 
despicable  intrigue  without  a  vestige  of  legality^    For  Hen- 


'  Genealogy  of  Lady  Jane  Grey. 

Henry   VII. 


Henry  VIII. 


Margaret.  Mary  m.  duke  of  Suffolk. 

Frances  m.  Henrv  Grev.  ii-jVc 
of 'Suffolk 


Jane  Grey. 


Triumph  of  the  Reformation   Under  Elizabeth    137 


ry's  arrangement  of  the  succession  by  will  was  in  accord- 
ance with  an  express  permission  granted  by  Parliament, 
but  Edward,  having  been  accorded  no  such  power,  signed 
an  utterly  worthless  document.  Northumberland  was  still 
completing  the  arrangements  for  his  plot  when,  on  July  6, 
1553,  Edward  breathed  his  last. 

Mary  (1553-58)- 
Edward  had  hardly  expired  when  Northumberland  pro-  Public  scnti- 

•^  .rill  1  r    Tient  declares 

claimed  Lady  Jane  Grey.  But  if  he  had  any  hope  ot  for  Mary. 
carrying  his  candidate,  he  was  soon  disillusioned.  The 
mass  of  the  people  saw  through  his  selfish  intrigue  and 
rallied  around  Mary,  their  lawful  sovereign.  They  hailed 
Mary  gladly,  because  not  only  their  sense  of  justice,  but 
also  their  religious  prejudices  designated  her  as  their  queen. 
For  the  majority  of  the  people  were  still  Catholic  in  senti- 
ment, and  the  radical  Protestantism  of  Northumberland 
had  aroused  their  animosity.  From  Mary  they  expected 
the  return  of  the  Mass  and  other  familiar  Catholic  usages 
from  which  they  were  not  yet  weaned  in  their  hearts. 

The  Lady  Jane  Grey  was,  in  consequence  of  this  un-   Downfall  of 

,  .  ,     ,        -x^       ,.  1  1      ,       ,1     •        •    L^r    1     Northumbe).* 

hesitating  devotion  of  the  English  people  to  their  nghttui  land  and 
sovereign,  crowned  only  to  be  deposed  again.  Northum-  q^JjT/'"'^ 
berland,  deserted  by  his  followers,  gave  himself  up  and 
was  beheaded.  His  fate  was  just,  but  unfortunately  Jane 
Grey,  who  was  merely  the  tool  of  an  ambitious  man,  paid 
the  same  penalty.  It  is  true  Queen  Mary  felt  compassion 
for  her  and  delayed  the  execution,  but  a  rebellion  of  the 
following  year  exasperated  her  to  such  a  degree  that  she 
gave  her  consent  to  her  young  cousin's  death.  The  gentle 
and  refined  young  girl,  queen  of  England  for  nine  agitated 
days,  has  always  excited  a  pathetic  interest.  The  great 
public  stage  on  which  she  died  was  not  her  choice;  a  quiet 
country  seat,  where  her  bright  nature  might  have  shone 


138 


England  Under  the   Tudors 


Marv  plans  a 
full  Catholic 
restoration. 


The  Act  of 
Supremacj- 
abolished. 


Cardinal  Pole 
receives  the 
nation  into  the 
Catholic  fold, 
I5S4- 


among  a  circle  of  friends  and  scholars,  would  have  suited 
her  better.  Therefore,  she  called  the  day  on  which  she  gave 
back  her  crown  to  the  commissioners  who  arrested  her,  the 
happiest  day  of  her  life. 

It  seems  likely  that  if  Mary  had  adopted  a  moderate 
Catholic  policy,  taking  her  stand  upon  the  platform  of  hei 
father,  Henry,  her  reign  would  have  met  the  wishes  of  hei 
people.  But  Mary  had  nothing  about  her  suggesting  com- 
promise. Her  Spanish  blood  called  upon  her  to  be  faithful, 
above  all  things,  to  her  faith.  She  therefore .  planned  noth- 
ing less  than  a  return  of  England  to  the  Pope's  fold — a  full 
Catholic  restoration.  And  that  was  a  delusion.  For  how- 
ever the  English  people  were  attached  to  Catholic  practices, 
the  Act  of  Supremacy,  proclaiming  the  English  independence 
of  Rome,  had  the  full  consent  of  the  nation. 

The  first  acts  of  Mary's  reign  left  no  doubt  about  her 
policy.  The  Parliament,  obedient  to  a  word  from  the  throne, 
rescinded  the  religious  legislation  of  Edward  and  brought 
the  Church  back  to  the  condition  in  which  it  was  at  Henry's 
death.  The  Mass  was  again  celebrated  in  the  Latin  lan- 
guage, altars  were  set  up,  and  the  married  clergy  were  ex- 
pelled from  their  livings.  So  much  was  acceptable  to  the 
nation.  But  doubtful  and  impolitic  measures  soon  followed. 
Urged  on  and  exhorted  by  INIar}',  the  Parliament  abolished 
all  the  legislation  of  Henr}^'s  reign  pertaining  to  the  Pope,, 
and  then  voted  the  return  of  England  to  the  papal  obedience. 
To  crown  her  policy  of  reconciliation.  Cardinal  Pole  arrived 
in  England  as  the  legate  of  the  Pope,  and  in  November,  1554, 
in  a  pompous  ceremony,  extended  absolution  to  the  nation 
and  received  it  back  into  the  papal  fold.  But  even  so,  Eng- 
land had  not  yet  been  carried  back  to  the  point  where  it 
was  when  Henry  began  his  memorable  conflict.  There  were 
still  the  alienated  monastic  lands.  Mar}'  in  her  honest  zeal 
would  have  restored  them  to  their  owners,  but  here  the 


TrUiinpk  of  the  Reformation    Under  Elizabeth    139 

Parliament,  which  was  made  up  largely  of  landholders  who 
had  profited  by  the  spoliation  of  the  Church,  showed  itself 
intractable. 

If  the  uncompromising  Catholic  policy  of  Mary  alienated   Mary  marries 

1  •  11  1  ir       Ml  '•  1  Philip  of 

many  sympathizers,  she  nurt  herselt  still  more  in  popular  Spain,  1554. 
estimatiou  when  she  rejected  marriage  with  one  of  her  own 
countrymen  and  accepted  the  proffered  hand  of  her  kinsman 
Philip,  son  and  heir  of  Charles  V.  Such  a  union  could  not 
but  inspire  vague  fears  of  a  foreign  domination,  and  although 
every  provision  was  made  in  the  marriage  contract  to  insure 
the  independence  of  England,  the  country  was,  nevertheless, 
unavoidably  drawn  into  the  Spanish  system.  In  the  summer 
of  1554  the  marriage  was  celebrated,  and  although  Philip 
proved  himself  afterward  to  be  a  cold  and  bigoted  Catholic, 
it  must  be  set  down  to  his  credit  that  he  comported  himself 
during  his  occasional  visits  to  England  with  much  discretion. 

Although  the  religious  persecutions  which  gave  the  fin-  Thepersecu-  ' 
ishing  stroke  to  JMary's  dying  popularity,  and  won  for  her  Mary, 
from  Protestant  writers  the  terrible  title  of  "Bloody  Mary," 
date  from  about  the  time  of  her  marriage,  they  cannot  be 
fairly  ascribed  to  her  Spanish  consort.  If  Mary  persecuted, 
the  incentive  was  chiefly  furnished  by  her  own  fiery  enthus- 
iasm. It  was  she  who  stimulated  the  Parliament  to  pass 
severe  enactments  against  heresy,  and  it  was  she  who  urged 
the  bishops  to  carry  them  out.  Soon  the  prisons  were  filled 
with  the  Protestant  leaders  of  Edward's  time,  and  soon,  too, 
the  fires  of  persecution  were  lighted  over  the  realm.  It  is 
the  period  of  the  Protestant  martyrs.  Some  two  hundred 
and  eighty  died  by  the  fagot — a  number  inconsiderable  com- 
pared with  the  slaughter  in  the  Netherlands,  but  enough  to 
rack  the  nerves  of  a  race  whose  wavering  attitude  led  them 
to  favor  a  more  gentle  procedure.  The  stanchness  of 
the  victims  in  death  contributed  more  toward  establishing 
Protestantism  than  could  have  been  done  by  the  doctrinal 


I40 


England  Under  the   Tudors 


Her  urv 
j%»pularity. 


She  is  drawn 
into  war  and 
loses  Calais. 


fervor  of  an  army  of  Calvinistic  preachers.  It  was  even  as 
Bishop  Latimer  said  to  Bishop  Ridley  at  the  stake:  "Master 
Ridley,  play  the  man;  we  shall  this  day,  by  God's  grace,  light 
such  a  candle  in  England  as  I  trust  shall  never  be  put  out." 
For  the  stout  part  they  played,  Latimer  and  Ridley  head 
the  Protestant  martyrology.  But  the  persecution  struck  a 
more  prominent,  if  not  a  more  noble  victim  than  these,  in 
the  person  of  the  deposed  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  This 
was  the  celebrated  Cranmer,  who  had  served  under  two 
kings.  Cranmer,  who  was  a  peculiar  mixture  of  strength 
and  weakness,  flinched  when  the  trial  came  and  denied  his 
faith.  But  in  the  face  of  death  his  courage  came  back  to 
him.  He  thrust  his  right  hand  into  the  flame,  and  steady- 
ing it  there  said,  resolutely:  "This  is  the  hand  that  wrote 
the  recantation;  therefore,  it  first  shall  suffer  punishment." 

If  Edward's  violent  Protestantism  made  his  reign  detested, 
Mary's  violent  Catholicism  produced  the  same  result.  The 
hatred  of  her  subjects  soon  pursued  her  even  into  her 
palace.  She  was  a  quiet,  tender  woman,  whose  intolerance 
was  more  the  crime  of  the  age  than  her  own,  and  the  har- 
vest of  aversion  which  was  springing  up  about  her  was  more 
than  she  could  bear.  Besides,  her  marriage  was  unfortu- 
nate. She  loved  Philip,  but  Philip  cared  little  for  her,  and 
did  not  much  trouble  to  hide  his  indifference  to  the  sickly 
and  ilWavored  woman,  twelve  years  older  than  himself.  To 
crown  her  misfortunes,  she  allowed  her  Spanish  husband 
to  draw  her  into  a  war  with  France,  in  which  Philip  won  all 
the  honor,  and  Mary  suffered  all  the  disgrace  by  the  loss  of 
the  last  point  which  remained  to  England  from  her  former 
possessions  in  France,  Calais  (1558).  Doubtless  the  loss 
of  Calais  was  for  England  a  benefit  in  disguise;  she  was 
thereby  cut  off  from  the  Continent  and  directed  to  her 
true  sphere,  the  sea.  But  to  the  Englishmen  of  that  day 
the  capture  seemed  an  insufferable  dishonor.    No  one  felt 


Triumph  of  the  Reformation   Under  Elisabeth    141 


it  more  keenly  than  Mary.  "When  I  die,"  she  is  reported 
♦o  have  said  shortly  before  her  death  (November,  1558), 
'Calais  will  be  found  written  on  my  heart." 

Elizabeth  (1558-1603). 

Elizabeth,  Anne  Boleyn's  daughter  and  Mary's  younger  Thegbrious 
half-sister,  succeeded  to  the  throne  on  Mary's  death,  and  Queen  Eliza- 
inaugurated  a  reign  which  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  ^^''^• 
glorious  in  English  annals.  Under  her,  Protestantism  was 
firmly  established  in  England,  the  great  Catholic  sea-power, 
Spain,  was  challenged  and  defeated,  and  English  life  flowered 
in  the  poetry  of  Shakespeare  and  his  contemporaries  more 
exuberandy  and  more  exquisitely  than  ever  before  or  since. 
To  the  national  greatness  to  which  England  suddenly  raised 
herself  in  the  sixteenth  century,  Elizabeth  has  lent  her  name. 
She  appeared  to  the  English  people,  and  still  appears,  mir- 
rored in  a  great  time,  and  their  generous  loyalty,  which 
gave  her  in  her  lifetime  the  title  of  Good  Queen  Bess,  has 
also  encouraged  them  in  the  view  that  she  was  the  fountain 
and  the  summary  of  all  the  virtues  which  throve  in  her  day. 
Modern  historians  have  scattered  this  delusion.  They  have 
separated  the  woman  from  her  time,  and  it  is  a  very  different 
Elizabeth  who  appears  to  the  eye  now  that  the  curtain  of  the 
myths  which  concealed  her  from  view  has  been  withdrawn. 

Elizabeth  had  few  of  the  graces  of  womanhood  and  many  Elizabeth  as 
of  its  weaknesses.  Her  vanity  was  so  great  that,  although  she  ^  "^^^^ 
was  a  very  plain-featured  woman,  she  succeeded  in  conceiv- 
ing herself  as  a  beauty  of  a  particularly  rare  type.  She 
could  not  live  without  flattery  and  flirtations,  and  accepting 
the  compliments  of  the  courtiers  for  true  coin,  allowed  herself 
to  be  persuaded  to  dance  and  sing  in  her  maladroit  manner 
before  a  brilliant  court  of  genUemen  and  ladies,  who  could 
hardly  hide  their  amusement  behind  their  handkerchiefs. 
Her  manners  were  rude,  especially  at  the  council  board, 


142 


England  Under  the   Tndors 


Elizabeth  as  a 
statesman. 


Elizabeth's 
religion. 


The  Privy 
Council. 


and  her  ministers  were  frequently  annihilated  by  language 
which  would  have  done  honor  to  the  camp  and  the  fish- 
market. 

If  Elizabeth  lacked  many  of  the  special  graces  and  virtues 
of  her  sex,  she  certainly  possessed  what  are  generally  known 
as  masculine  talents,  for  she  had  an  inflexible  will  and  an 
exceptional  intelligence.  Above  all,  she  loved  her  people 
and  identified  herself  with  them.  All  her  statesmanship  and 
all  our  praise  can  be  expressed  in  the  single  sentence  that 
she  was  a  national  sovereign. 

But  one  of  the  qualities  by  which  she  rendered  England 
a  great  service  her  contemporaries  would  have  been  quick 
to  condemn  if  they  had  been  more  clearly  informed  about  it : 
she  was  lukewarm  in  matters  of  faith.  However  such  want 
of  conviction  may  be  regarded  in  the  case  of  a  private  indi- 
vidual, in  the  England  of  that  day,  shaken  by  religious  pas- 
sions, the  sovereign's  indifference  was  an  undisguised  bless- 
ing to  the  commonwealth.  By  reason  of  it  Elizabeth  was 
delivered  from  the  destructive  religious  radicalism  of  both 
Edward  and  Mary,  and  being  relatively  disinterested  was 
peculiarly  fitted  to  play  her  royal  part  of  mediator  between 
antagonistic  faiths.  We  should  remember  that  the  sixteenth 
century  was  the  century  not  only  of  the  Reformation,  but 
also  of  the  Renaissance.  Elizabeth  had  been  brought  up  to 
read  Latin  and  Greek,  and  was  not  unacquainted  with  the 
languages  and  the  literatures  of  the  Continent.  It  is,  there- 
fore, not  so  very  strange  that,  like  Shakespeare,  Jonson,  and 
the  poets  of  her  time  generally,  she  gave  more  heed  to  the 
voices  coming  from  Italy  than  to  the  messages  of  Luther 
and  of  Calvin. 

The  chief  organ  of  Elizabeth's  government  was  the  Privy 
Council,  a  sort  of  cabinet,  the  advice  of  which  she  regularly 
heard  before  she  arrived  at  a  decision.  In  this  body  was 
gathered  the  best  political  talent  which  the  country  boasted- 


Triumph  of  the  Reformation   Under  Elizabeth    143 


It  is  no  small  credit  to  Elizabeth  to  have  exhibited  such 
discernment  in  the  choice  of  her  ministers.  Most  prominent 
among  them  was  William  Cecil,  Lord  Burghley,  who  devoted 
a  life  of  exemplary  patriotism  to  the  advancement  of  English 
Protestantism  and  the  English  sea-power. 

Though  Elizabeth  was  willing  to  consult  in  her  affairs  the   The  posiUon 

„.,,.,  ,      1         r  1  1     •  1-       of  Parliament. 

Privy  Council,  which  was  a  body  of  her  own  choice,  she 
was  not  inclined  to  grant  much  political  influence  to  Parlia- 
ment, which  was  elected  by  the  people.  Parliament  re- 
mained, therefore,  what  it  had  been  under  the  other  Tudors, 
an  obedient  recorder  of  the  royal  will.  Thus  the  sovereign- 
ty of  England  was  practically  concentrated  in  Elizabeth's 
hands. 

The  first  question  of  Elizabeth's  reign  was  the  question   Elizabeth 
of  the   Reformation.     Edward  had  followed  a   policy   of  religious 
radical  Protestantism  and  had  failed;  Mary  had  followed  a  moderation. 
policy  of  radical  Catholicism  and  had  failed;  after  these 
two  experiments  it  was  plain  that  extremes  would  have  to 
be  abandoned.     Elizabeth  showed  her  sound  judgment  by 
deliberately  taking  up  a  moderate  policy.     When  her  first  The.A.ctsof 

-r^i.  Ill-  111-  •  Ai    Supremac}' 

Parliament  assembled  in  1559  she  had  it  pass  again  an  Act   andUniform- 

of  Supremacy,  asserting  the  English  independence  of  Rome 

and  declaring  the  sovereign  the  highest  authority  in  the  realm 

in  religious  as  well  as  in  civil  matters;  and  also  an  Act  of 

Uniformity,  which  imposed  upon  every  minister  the  forms  of 

worship  laid  down  in  a  new  Book  of  Common  Prayer.     The 

new  book  was  nothing  but  the  second  Prayer-Book  (1552) 

of  Edward's  reign,  with  some  few  revisions.     The  plan  was 

to  make  the  national  Church  thus  reestablished  as  broad  as 

possible,  in  order  that  the  moderates  of  all  parties  might  be 

embraced  by  it.     Such  was  Elizabeth's  moderation  that  it 

even  brzd  foiid  hopes  in  the  Pope's  breast,  but  after  waiting 

for  ten  years  for  her  to  return  to  the  fold,  he  lost  patience 

anct  iswuad  a  bull  excommunicating  and  deposing  her  (1570). 


itv. 


144 


England  Under  the   Tudors 


Her  persecu- 
tion political 
rather  than 
religious. 


Elizabeth  is 
the  real  found- 
er of  the 
Anglican 
Church. 


From  that  moment  Elizabeth  was  definitely  pledged  to  the 
Protestant  cause  and  was  forced  into  active  hostility  against 
Catholicism.  Stringent  measures  were  passed  against  the 
adherents  of  the  Pope,  but  never  in  blind  passion  without 
recognition  of  varying  degrees  of  culpability.  Catholics 
who  refused  to  attend  service  in  the  new  Church  were  simply 
visited  with  money  fines,  while  heavier  fines,  culminating  in 
imprisonment,  were  inflicted  for  saying  or  attending  Mass. 
Fanatic  Catholics,  whose  enthusiasm  led  them  to  go  further 
and  to  engage  in  political  plots,  were  repressed  by  special 
treason  bills,  which  authorized  the  seizure  and  execution  of 
conspirators,  but  which  were  sufiiciently  elastic  to  strike 
down  any  inconvenient  Catholic  zealot.  Under  these  vari- 
ous laws  a  considerable  number  of  Catholics  were  put  to 
death,  and  all  of  them,  by  the  system  of  fines,  were  gravely 
molested;  but  compared  with  the  contemporary  persecutions 
in  Spain,  France,  and  the  Netherlands,  Elizabeth's  methods 
have  an  unmistakable  imprint  of  moderation. 

A  church  on  these  broad  foundations  met  the  wishes  of 
the  majority  of  Englishmen.  They  gave  it  their  adherence 
in  increasing  numbers,  accepted  its  form  and  government, 
and  gradually  forgot  the  Latin  Mass.  Elizabeth  could, 
therefore,  proceeding  in  her  deliberate  manner,  gradually 
complete  its  structure  by  new  legislation.  The  most  im- 
portant of  the  complementary  acts  is  the  publication  of  a 
confession  of  faith  under  the  name  of  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles  of  Religion  (1563).  These,  too,  like  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer,  were  based  upon  the  enactments  of  Ed- 
ward's time,  and  were  steeped  in  the  Protestant  spirit. 
The  Acts  of  Supremacy  and  Uniformity,  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer,  and  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  are  still  in 
our  own  day  the  essential  features  of  the  Anglican  or 
English  National  Church,  which  may,  therefore,  claim 
j^lizabeth  much  more  truly  than  Henry  as  its  founder. 


Triumph  of  the  Reformation   Under  Elizabeth    145 


Throughout  Elizabeth's  reign  the  Roman  Catholics  de-  The  Puritans 
creased  in  numbers.  But  as  they  diminished,  there  rose 
into  prominence  another  body  of  religious  opponents,  Prot- 
estant radicals,  who  were  dissatisfied  with  what  they  called 
Elizabeth's  half-measures,  and  clamored  for  a  thorough 
Protestant  revolution.  These  radicals,  it  soon  developed, 
were  of  two  kinds,  Puritans  and  Separatists.  The  Puritans 
were  the  more  moderate  opponents,  who,  while  accepting 
the  national  Church  and  attending  its  services,  hoped  to 
eliminate  from  it  certain  features  like  the  elaborate  vest- 
ments of  the  clergy,  which  they  despised  as  "Romish" 
trappings.  Their  demand  for  what  they  called  a  purer 
worship  won  them  as  a  nickname,  in  the  first  instance,  the 
party  designation  of  Puritans.  The  Separatists,  on  the  TheSepara 
other  hand  (also  called  Brownists,  after  their  founder  Robert 
Brown),  were  radicals  of  the  most  thorough-going  sort.  The 
national  Church  with  its  bishops,  its  surplices,  its  cere- 
monies, was  hardly  better  to  them  than  the  Roman  Church, 
and  they  refused  to  attend  it.  As  their  propaganda  spread, 
they  were  sharply  persecuted,  while  the  Puritans,  who  in  the 
main  yielded  obedience  and  worshipped  as  demanded  by  the 
law,  were  left  comparatively  undisturbed. 

On  turning  to  the  political  developments  of  Elizabeth's   Caution  the 
reign  we  are  immediately  struck  by  the  fact  that  they  are  Elizabeth's 
intimately  associated  with  her  religious  policy.     We  have  policy- 
seen  that  her  plan  was  to  move  cautiously,  to  give  as  little 
offence  as  possible.     In  consequence,  she  remained  for  a 
surprisingly  long  time  on  reasonably  good  terms  with  both 
the  Pope  and  Philip  of  Spain.     But  as  her  Protestant  policy 
took  a  more   definite  shape,  a  coolness  sprang  up  which 
the  bull  of  excommunication  of  1570  converted  into  open 
hostility.     Turn  as  Elizabeth  would  in  her  shifty  manner, 
there  was  now  no  way  by  which  she  could  avoid  beinp 
identified  with  the  Protestant  cause.    The  Catholic  reaction 


146 


England  Under  the  Tudor s 


She  Is  driven 
into  war  with 
Spain. 


The  affairs 
of  Scotland. 


Que«n  Mary 
sent  to  Frame 
when  a  child. 


on  the  Continent  was  growing  stronger  every  day,  more  ag- 
gressively set  on  winning  back  its  lost  ground,  and  unless 
the  Protestants  closed  their  ranks  in  their  turn,  it  was  only 
too  likely  that  their  forces  would  be  broken  and  routed. 
The  great  fact  in  the  second  half  of  the  sixteenth  century  is 
the  world-war  between  Catholicism  and  Protestantism,  in 
which  Philip  of  Spain  stepped  forward  as  the  champion  of 
Rome,  and  Elizabeth,  almost  against  her  will,  became  the 
paladin  of  the  newer  faith. 

Every  event  in  Elizabeth's  reign  contributed  to  precipi- 
tate the  struggle;  notably  the  queen's  relations  with  Scot- 
land and  Scotland's  sovereign,  Mary  Stuart.  Scotland 
had  been  England's  foe  fcr  centuries.  We  have  seen  thai 
Henry  VII.,  with  a  view  to  the  better  understanding  and  pos- 
sible union  of  the  two  countries,  had  married  his  daughter 
Margaret  to  James  IV.  But  war  was  not  thereby  averted. 
James  IV.  and  James  V.  both  sympathized  with  France  and 
both  died  while  fighting  England,  the  latter  (1542)  when  his 
successor,  Mary,  was  but  a  few  days  old.  Mar}^  Stuart's 
descent  from  Henry  VII.  and  the  prospective  failure  of 
Henry  VIII. 's  direct  descendants  opened  for  the  child  the 
prospect  of  the  English  succession.  On  the  death  of  Mary 
Tudor  (1558),  there  was,  with  the  exception  of  Elizabeth, 
no  other  descendant  of  Henr}^  VII.  alive  as  prominent  a3 
she.  To  the  Catholics,  moreover,  who  saw  in  the  daugh- 
ter of  Anne  Boleyn  merely  an  illegitimate  child,  she  had 
even  a  better  claim  than  Elizabeth.  Out  of  this  relation  of 
the  two  women  to  the  English  throne  sprang  their  instinctive 
aversion  for  each  other,  and  the  long  and  bloody  drama  of 
their  rivalry,  ending  in  Mary's  death  upon  the  scaffold. 

When  Mary  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  Scotland,  she  was, 
as  has  been  said,  a  child  in  arms.  Her  mother,  another 
Mary,  of  the  French  family  of  Guise,  assumed  the  regency, 
and  in  order  to  withdraw  her  child  from  possible  English 


Triumph  of  the  Reformation   Under  Elisabeth    147 


influences  sent  her  over  to  France,  where  she  was  soon  be- 
trothed to  the  heir  of  the  throne,  the  dauphin.^  Thus  in 
the  face  of  the  Tudor  policy  of  reconcihation  the  interests  of 
France  and  Scotland  were  newly  knit  to  the  detriment  of 
England. 

Mary  of  Guise  soon  met  with  the  same  difficulties  which  The  Protestant 
beset  every  government  in  her  time.  Toward  the  middle  scotiand. 
of  the  century  the  voices  of  the  Reformation  began  to  be 
heard  in  the  land.  Conversions  grew  apace,  and  presently 
the  struggle  between  the  old  and  the  new  faiths  began  with 
customary  vehemence.  But  nowhere  was  it  so  brief  and 
nowhere  was  the  victory  of  the  new  teachings  so  decisive. 
Scotland  was  still  a  backward,  feudal  land,  where  the  chief 
power  rested  with  a  lawless  nobility.  The  clergy,  too,  had 
considerable  wealth  and  power,  but  their  religious  indiffer- 
ence and  luxurious  living  had  weaned  from  them  the  affec- 
tions of  the  people.  On  this  account  the  hold  of  the  Catholic 
Church  on  Scotland  had  become  so  slight  that  the  fier}' 
Calvinistic  preachers,  among  whom  John  Knox  (1505-72) 
was  the  leading  spirit,  had  only  to  proclaim  the  new  faith 
to  have  it  accepted  by  the  people.  Wlien  the  nobility, 
lured  by  the  bait  of  the  rich  Church  lands,  threw  in  their 
lot  with  the  preachers,  the  success  of  the  Reformation  in 
Scotland  was  assured. 

The  French  gentlewoman  who  held  the  regency  of  Scot-  The  regent 

land  viewed  these  developments  with  consternation.     She   French  to%t 

had  lost  her  hold  on  the  countrv  and  could  think  of  no  other   ['''"'"  Protes- 
tantism. 

way  of  getting  it  back  than  by  the  aid  of  French  troops.  At 
her  request  France  sent  soldiers,  who  had  put  themselves  in 
possession  of  a  number  of  important  places,  and  were  on  the 
road  to  repressing  the  Protestant  movement  altogether,  at 


*  The  heir  to  the  French  throne  received  the  title  of  dauphin  in  the 
Middle  Ages.  The  title  is  derived  from  the  province  of  Dauphiny.  A 
similar  custom  accorded  to  the  oldest  son  of  the  English  king  the  title  of 
prince  of  Wales. 


148 


England  Under  the   Tudors 


Establishment 
of  the  Kirk  of 
Scotland, 
1560. 


Calvinism 
dominates  the 
government, 
doctrines,  and 
service  of  the 
new  Church. 


Mary  returns 
to  Scotland, 
1561. 


the  moment  when  EHzabeth  had  given  a  Protestant  turn  to 
EngUsh  affairs  by  establishing  her  national  Church.  The 
wisdom  of  aiding  the  Scotch  Protestants  was  so  obvious  that 
Elizabeth  resolved  to  send  men  and  ships  to  the  north. 
These  forces  succeeded  in  bringing  the  French  to  terms, 
and  by  the  treaty  of  Edinburgh  (1560)  the  latter  agreed  to 
abandon  Scotland.  As  the  regent  at  this  juncture  fell  ill  and 
died,  and  as  Queen  Mary  was  still  in  France,  the  Protestant 
lords  suddenly  found  themselves  masters  of  the  situation. 
In  a  Parliament  composed  of  the  friends  of  Knox  they 
abolished  the  papal  supremacy,  forbade  the  Mass,  and  laid 
the  foundations  of  a  new  Church  of  their  own  (1560). 

The  Church  that  thus  sprang  into  existence  a  year  after 
Elizabeth's  Anglican  establishment  took  form  was  based, 
like  its  southern  neighbor,  on  the  Protestant  principle  of 
independence  of  Rome,  but  resembled  it  in  very  few  other 
respects.  Knox,  its  organizing  genius,  had  sat  at  the  feet  of 
Calvin  at  Geneva,  and  was  resolved  to  model  it,  as  nearly  as 
possible,  according  to  Calvin's  theory  of  church  organization. 
By  Calvin's  system  each  congregation  governed  itself  dem- 
ocratically, that  is,  was  ruled  by  the  pastor  in  connection 
with  elected  laymen  called  presbyters  or  elders;  while  the 
Church,  being  the  sum  of  all  the  congregations,  was  sub- 
jected to  a  general  assembly.  These  features  of  government, 
together  with  improvements  and  modifications  suggested  by 
the  peculiar  condition  of  the  country,  were  imposed  upon  the 
new  institution.  Its  doctrine  and  worship  were  borrowed 
from  the  same  Genevan  source,  and  thus  equipped  there 
emerged  a  new  Protestant  Church,  known  as  the  Presbyterian 
Kirk  of  Scotland. 

Up  to  this  time  the  absent  Queen  Mary  had  not  con- 
cerned herself  much  with  the  doings  of  rude  and  far-away 
Scotland.  Her  husband,  Francis  II.,  had  lately  (1559) 
become  king  of  France,  and  ever  since  the  death  of  Mary 


TriuinpJi  of  the  Reformation    Under  Elizabeth    149 


Tudor  (1558)  she  had,  supported  by  a  good  part  of  the 
Catholic  world,  looked  ujjon  herself  as  queen,  too,  of  Eng- 
land. But  the  year  1560  disturbed  her  outlook  greatly. 
Her  feeble  husband,  Francis  II.,  died,  and  Elizabeth  made 
herself  tolerably  secure  at  home.  Scotland  alone  seemed  to 
be  left  to  Mary,  and  as  Scotland  needed  its  sovereign,  she 
suddenly  (1561)  hurried  thither. 

When  Mary  landed  in  Scotland  she  was  only  nineteen  Her  difficulties, 
years  old  and  no  better  than  a  stranger.  Add  to  this  fact 
the  circumstance  that  she  was  confronted  by  a  lawless 
nobility,  and,  as  a  Catholic,  was  an  object  of  suspicion  to 
her  Protestant  subjects,  and  one  has  the  elements  of  a 
problem  that  even  a  better  and  wiser  person  than  Mary 
might  not  have  solved. 

But  though  Mary  proved  inadequate,  she  was  a  woman  The  character 
of  many  admirable  gifts.  Grace  of  figure  and  grace  of  spirit  °  ^  ^"^• 
were  added  to  a  nimble  wit  and  a  keen  intelligence.  The 
chance  that  tossed  her  to  France,  furnished  her  with  a  rare 
opportunity  for  development,  for  the  court  of  the  Valois  had 
become  the  home  of  all  the  exquisite  influences  of  the  Re- 
naissance, and  the  people  she  met  there,  the  very  air  she 
breathed,  tingled  with  the  joy  of  living.  She  soon  became 
the  ruling  genius  of  a  bright  circle,  and  the  hours  revolved 
for  her  amid  dancing,  music,  and  poetry.  Her  contem- 
poraries never  tired  of  praising  her  beauty;  but  better  than 
formal  beauty,  she  possessed  a  subtle  charm  which  ap- 
pealed to  the  chivalry  of  men,  and  raises  partisans  for 
her  even  in  ovu:  day.  Thus  endowed,  she  was  called  to 
be  a  great  queen,  on  one  condition:  she  must  subordinate 
her  passions  to  her  duty  as  a  sovereign.  But  here  it  was 
that  she  failed.  Her  cousin  Elizabeth,  who  did  not  fail  in 
this  particular,  proved  herself  thereby,  if  not  the  better 
woman,  at  least  the  greater  queen.  Comparing  the  two 
Kousins,  who  inevitably  force  a  comparison  upon  us,  stand- 


I50 


England  Under  the   Tudors 


Mary  marries 
T^rd  Darnlev. 


The  murder 
of  Rizzio  and 
Darnlev. 


ing  as  they  do  in  history  flashing  challenge  at  each  other, 
we  are  reminded  of  the  familiar  judgment:  Elizabeth  was 
first  statesman  and  then  woman,  Mary  was  first  woman  and 
then  statesman. 

Mary  began  well  enough.  She  made  no  difficulties  about 
the  Presbyterian  Kirk  and  only  reserved  to  herself  the  right 
of  Catholic  worship.  For  four  years  Scotland  enjoyed  an 
unusual  degree  of  peace.  But  in  the  year  1565  Mary  married 
her  cousin,  Lord  Darnley,  and  by  that  event  she  and  all 
Scotland  were  plunged  into  troubles  involving  a  succession  of 
climaxes  unique  in  history'. 

Lord  Darnley,  who  was  hardly  more  than  a  boy,  turned 
out  to  be  proud,  silly,  and  dissolute.  He  was  no  sooner 
married  than  he  became  the  tool  of  the  party  of  nobles  op- 
posed to  Mar}\  They  represented  to  him  that  if  he  did  not 
enjoy  full  authority  with  the  queen,  it  was  due  to  one  of 
Mary's  foreign  secretaries,  an  Italian,  David  Rizzio.  Darn- 
ley, egged  on  by  the  nobles,  resolved  to  have  revenge.  One 
night  while  Mary  was  sitting  at  supper,  the  conspirators  burst 
into  the  room,  fell  upon  Rizzio,  and  in  spite  of  the  queen's 
effort  to  save  him  dragged  him  from  the  chamber  and  slew 
him  at  the  door  (1566).  Much  of  what  followed  is  uncertain. 
Certain  it  is  that  Mary's  love  for  her  husband  was  hence- 
forth turned  to  hate.  She  planned  revenge.  For  the  present 
Darnley  and  his  party  held  the  reins  in  their  hands  and  she 
was  forced  to  resort  to  dissimulation.  By  cleverly  feigning 
affection,  she  brought  her  husband  to  his  knees  before  her, 
separated  him  from  her  enemies,  and  quickly  reacquired 
control.  Henceforth  she  took  few  pains  to  hide  her  loathing 
for  the  -nTetched  prince.  In  Februar}',  1567,  the  house 
where  Darnley  was  staying  just  outside  the  walls  of  Edin- 
burgh was  shattered  by  an  explosion  of  gunpowder,  and 
Darnley  was  found  dead  the  next  morning.  We  know 
beyond  a  doubt  that  the  murderer  was  the  earl  of  Bothwell, 


Triumph  of  the  Reformation   Under  Elizabeth    151 


a  dare-devil  cavalier,  who  was  in  love  with  the  queen,  but 
we  should  also  like  to  know  whether  or  not  the  queen  was 
his  accomplice.  Extended  investigation  has  not  yet  supplied 
a  definite  answer,  but  by  what  followed  the  murder  Mart- 
has compromised  her  good  name  beyond  help.  Not  only 
did  she  permit  Bothwell's  trial  for  the  murder  of  her  consort 
to  degenerate  into  a  mere  farce,  but  shortly  after  his  acquittal 
she  married  him. 

The  excuse  w^as  afterward  put  forward  by  Mary  that  in  The  revolt 
marrying  Bothwell  she  had  not  consulted  her  free  will,  but  ^^'"stMerv. 
had  yielded  to  violence.  The  apology  has  little  inherent 
probability  and  was  rejected  with  scorn  by  her  subjects. 
They  revolted  against  her,  and  although  with  rare  courage 
she  rallied  again  and  again  from  defeat,  by  the  year  1568 
she  found  herself  without  further  resources.  Despairing  of 
success,  she  sought  refuge  in  England.  She  would  have  done 
better  to  have  sought  it  in  the  sea.  She  became  Elizabeth's 
prisoner,  and  won  her  release  only,  after  nineteen  years,  by 
laying  her  head  upon  the  block. 

Before  we  take  up  Elizabeth's  conduct,  let  us  take  note   James  VI. 
that  tragic  as  Mary's  fate  was,  her  country  profited  by  her  ^1"^  ^""^ 
downfall.     Her  infant  son  was  crowned  king  as  James  VI.,   regent, 
while  her  half-brother.  Lord  Murray,  assumed  the  regency. 
Murray  represented  the  Protestant  party,  and  his  rule  meant 
religious  peace  for  Scotland  on  the  basis  of  the  complete 
triumph  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

It  is  not  diflicult  to  account  for  the  harsh  policy  which   Explanation 
Elizabeth  adopted  toward  her  royal  cousin.    In  fairness  to  sev^^Hy  wUh' 
her  we  must  acknowledge  that  imperative  considerations  of  regard  to 
state  hardly  left  any  other  course  open.     Looking  out  from 
London  over  Europe  she  beheld  a  perplexing  situation.    She 
saw  Philip  11.  in  arms  against  the  Netherlands,  resolved,  if 
necessary,  to  drown  Protestantism  in  blood;  in  France  she 
took  note  of  a  civil  war,  in  which  the  Catholic  party,  in  order 


152 


England  Under  the   Tudors 


Prospect  of 
war  between 
England  and 
Spain. 


Execution  of 
Mary. 


to  achieve  its  ends,  did  not  balk  at  such  revolting  measures 
as  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew;  she  was  in  frequent 
peril  of  her  life  through  the  plots  of  her  own  Catholic  sub- 
jects, who  aimed  to  be  rid  of  her  and  raise  Mary  to  the 
throne;  and  she  saw,  in  general,  a  threatening  concentration 
of  the  whole  Catholic  world  for  a  supreme  blow  against  the 
Protestant  heresy. 

Under  these  conditions  her  conduct  could  not  but  be 
regulated  primarily  with  reference  to  the  Catholic  reaction 
now  plainly  mounting  to  a  climax.  By  the  beginning  of  the 
eighties,  Philip,  through  his  great  general,  Parma,  had  the 
revolt  of  the  Netherlands  reasonably  well  in  hand,  while 
through  his  association  with  the  French  Catholics  he  so  domi- 
nated France  as  to  be  sure  that  that  kingdom  would  not  strike 
him  in  the  rear.  He  could,  therefore,  concentrate  his  atten- 
tion upon  the  dangerous  and  elusiv^e  Elizabeth.  Luckily, 
at  the  approach  of  the  great  crisis,  the  temper  of  Englishmen 
was  hardening  to  steel.  In  the  consciousness  of  their  power 
they  even  invited  the  threatening  storm.  Sir  Francis  Drake 
and  a  dozen  other  freebooters  fell  upon  the  Spaniards  where 
they  found  them,  plundered  them  on  the  Spanish  main,  and 
slaughtered  them  in  their  transatlantic  settlements.  WTiile 
Philip  and  Elizabeth  were  still  protesting  friendship  in 
official  notes,  their  subjects  had  already  engaged  in  combat 
on  their  own  account.  When  at  last,  in  1585,  the  queen 
did  not  scruple  to  give  open  and  armed  aid  to  the  revolted 
Netherlands,  Philip  declared  that  he  was  at  the  end  of  his 
patience.  He  prepared  against  England  an  unexampled 
armament. 

It  was  the  rumor  of  Philip's  invasion  of  England,  coupled 
with  the  renewed  activity  of  the  English  supporters  of  Mary, 
that  cost  the  unfortunate  queen  of  Scots  her  life.  Probably 
it  had  little  value  for  her  and  death  was  not  unwelcome.  She 
had  grown  old  and  gray  behind  prison  walls;  she  knew  bar- 


Triumph  of  the  Reformation   Under  Elisabeth    153 


self  beaten.  Elizabeth's  ministers  succeeded  in  proving 
that  Mary  was  a  party  to  a  conspiracy  which  a  man  by  the 
name  of  Babington  had  directed  against  the  life  of  the 
sovereign,  and  persuaded  the  queen,  who  hypocritically 
feigned  reluctance,  to  sign  her  cousin's  death-warrant.  The 
anxiety  of  the  ministers  becomes  explicable  when  we  re- 
flect that  if  Catholic  Mary  ever  succeeded  to  the  English 
throne  their  lives  were  not  worth  a  penny.  In  February, 
1587,  Mary  was  executed  at  Fotheringay. 

The  next  year  the  war  between  Spain  and  England  came  The  Armada 
to  a  head.     Philip  having  at  length  got  together  over  one   '^ 
hundred  ships,   known  under  the  name  of  the  Armada, 
despatched  them  toward    the    English  coasts.     The  plan 
was  that  the  Armada  should  sail  first  to  the  Netherlands 
and  by  putting  itself  at  the  disposal  of  the  duke  of  Parma, 
who  commanded  the  Spanish  troops  there,  should  enable 
that  great  captain  to  effect  a  landing  in  England.     The 
island  realm  was  thoroughly  alive  to  its  danger.     In  the  face 
of  the  foreign  invader  all  religious  differences  were  forgotten 
and  replaced  by  a  flaming  national  enthusiasm,  uniting  all 
parties.     In  fact,  the  Armada  may  be  called  the  death-blow 
of  English  Catholicism;  for  from  now  on,  to  be  a  Catholic 
meant  to  be  a  friend  of  the  tyrant  Philip,  and  but  few 
Englishmen  cared  to  expose  themselves  to  such  an  imputa- 
tion.    A  navy  filled  with  the  spirit  which  is  ready  to  do  and 
die  was  put  at  Elizabeth's  disposal.     With  such  leaders  as 
Lord  Howard,  Sir  Francis  Drake,  and  Sir  Martin  Frobisher, 
many  of  whom  had  spent  a  lifetime  fighting  the  Spaniards 
on  all  known  seas,  the  English  were  not  likely  to  fail  for  want 
of  bravery  or  skill.     Nor  were  they  likely  to  fail  for  want 
of  the  material  means  of  protection.     They  mustered  even 
more  ships  than  the  Spaniards,  which,  although  not  so  large 
as  the  galleons  of  the  enemy,  by  virtue  of  their  speed,  the 
size  and  number  of  their  guns,  and  the  perfect  seamanship 


154 


England  Cinder  the   Tudor s 


The  tables 
are  turned. 


Elizabeth's 
last  years. 


of  their  sailors  held  the  Spaniards  at  their  mercy.  The 
Armada  had  hardly  appeared,  toward  the  end  of  July,  1588, 
off  the  west  coast  of  England  before  the  more  rapid  English 
vessels  darted  in  upon  their  rear  and  flank.  The  damage 
which  was  done  the  Spaniards  during  a  running  sea-fight 
in  the  Channel,  lasting  eight  days,  forced  them  to  lie  off  Calais 
for  repairs.  Here  a  number  of  fire-ships  sent  among  them 
drove  them  from  their  shelter  into  the  waiting  English  fleet, 
and  in  the  ensuing  combat  they  were  discomfited  so  com- 
pletely that  their  admiral  gave  up  the  enterprise.  Finding 
the  Channel  blocked  behind  him,  he  tried  to  make  for  home 
by  the  coast  of  Scotland.  But  he  encountered  heavy  storms, 
even  more  terrible  enemies  than  the  English,  the  Spanish 
ships  were  shattered  miserably  by  waves  and  rocks,  and 
only  a  remnant  ever  returned  to  Cadiz  to  tell  the  tale  of  the 
disaster. 

England  was  safe,  and  more  than  England,  the  cause  of 
Protestantism  in  the  Netherlands  and  the  world  over.  The 
English  admirals  now  transferred  the  scene  of  action  to  the 
Spanish  coasts,  and  soon  the  disheartened  Philip  sued  for  a 
peace,  which  his  triumphant  foe  would  not  allow. 

As  for  Elizabeth,  the  overthrow  of  the  Spanish  Armada 
was  the  climax  of  her  brilliant  reign.  Henceforth  her  people 
identified  her  with  the  national  triumph  and  worshipped  her 
as  the  very  spirit  of  England.  But  her  private  life  slowly 
entered  into  eclipse.  She  was  old,  childless,  and  lonely. 
Her  last  sincere  attachment,  of  which  the  earl  of  Essex  was 
the  object,  brought  her  nothing  but  sorrow.  Essex  had 
been  put  at  the  head  of  an  army  destined  to  subdue  Ireland, 
which  was  just  then  agitated  by  the  famous  rising  of  O'Neill, 
but  as  he  mismanaged  his  campaign  he  had  to  be  dismissed 
in  disgrace.  Full  of  resentment,  he  now  engaged  in  a 
treasonable  plot,  but  was  discovered  and  executed  (1601). 
It  is  hard  to  believe  that  a  woman  who  all  her  life  looked  upon 


Triumph  of  the  Reformation   Under  Elizabeth    155 


love  and  courtship  as  a  pleasant  recreation,  should  have 
really  cared  for  the  amiable  earl;  certain  it  is,  however,  that 
she  went  into  a  decline  soon  after  his  execution,  and  died, 
disgusted  with  the  world  (1603). 

England's  wonderful  and  varied  progress  during  this  England 
reign  remains  to  be  considered.  In  fact,  the  reign  was  the  ^ea"^^""  * 
starting-point  of  a  new  development.  For  the  first  time 
Englishmen  grew  aware  that  their  true  realm  was  the  sea. 
Courageous  sailors  like  Drake,  Davis,  and  Frobisher  voyaged 
to  the  remotest  lands,  and  though  they  established  as  yet 
no  colonies,  the  idea  of  a  colonial  empire  in  the  future  was 
implanted  in  the  minds  of  men  and  a  sound  beginning  was 
made  by  the  creation  of  commercial  relations  with  various 
parts  of  the  world.  Before  the  death  of  Elizabeth,  England, 
which  had  theretofore  allowed  Spain  a  monopoly  of  the 
sea,  had  fairly  entered  upon  the  path  of  oceanic  expansion. 
The  spread  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  one  of  the  most  sig- 
nificant events  of  Modern  History,  may,  therefore,  be  dated 
from  "the  spacious  times  of  great  Elizabeth." 

With  the  increase  of  commerce,  there  came  an  increase  Social  prog- 
of  industry  and  wealth  and  a  more  elevated  plane  of  living, 
which  showed  itself  in  a  greater  luxury  of  dress,  in  a  court- 
lier society,  and  in  the  freer  patronage  of  the  theatre  and 
the  arts.  Altogether  England  was  new-made.  The  Italian 
Renaissance  poured  out  its  cornucopia  of  gifts  upon  her, 
and  there  ensued  such  a  heightening  of  all  the  faculties  of 
man  as  makes  this  period  one  of  the  imposing  epochs  of 
history.  The  Englishman  of  Elizabeth's  time  broke  away 
from  the  narrow  mediaeval  traditions  of  thought  and  life, 
and  became,  like  the  Italian  of  the  previous  generation, 
entranced  by  the  beauty  of  the  world  which  spread  out  be- 
fore him,  waiting  only  to  be  conquered.  It  is  such  a  man, 
exuberantly  happy  in  the  possession  of  himself  and  his 
environment,  who  produces  a  great  art. 


ress. 


156  England  Under  the  Tudors 

Liter.iturc  The  great  art  by  which  Englishmen  ex]Dressed  their  sense 

of  this  fresh  and  delightful  contemporary  life  is  the  drama. 
Christopher  Marlowe  (d.  1593),  Ben  Jonson  (d.  1637),  and 
especially  WiUiam  Shakespeare  (d.  1616),  are  its  great 
luminaries.  But  the  cognate  fields  of  the  mind  were  not 
left  uncultivated.  Edmund  Spenser  (d.  1599)  wrote  the 
great  epic  poem  of  the  English  tongue,  the  Faerie  Queen, 
and  Francis  Bacon  (d.  1626),  the  philosopher,  by  abandon- 
ing the  barren  mediaeval  methods  of  classification  and  by 
referring  man  directly  to  observation  and  the  evidence  of 
his  senses,  paved  the  way  for  a  more  profitable  and  scientific 
study  of  nature. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  REVOLT  OF  THE  NETHERLANDS  AND  TRIUMPH  OF  THE 
SEVEN   UNITED   PROVINCES    (1566-1648) 

References:  Johnson,  Europe  in  the  Sixteenth  Century, 
Chapter  VIII.;  Motley,  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Repubhc, 
History  of  the  United  Netherlands,  John  of  Barneveld; 
Harrison,  Wilham  the  Silent;  Putnam,  WiUiam  the 
Silent;  Cambridge  Modern  History,  Vol.  III., 
Chapters  VI.,  VII.,  XIX. 

Source  Readings:  Old  South  Leaflets,  No.  72  (The  Dutch 
Declaration  of  Independence  in  1581). 

The  part  of  Europe  which  has  been  designated  from  The  Nether 
of  old  as  the  Netherlands,  or  Low  Countries,  is  embraced  theBurgun- 
approximately  by  modern  Holland  and  Belgium.  In  the  'iian  princes 
Middle  Ages  the  Netherlands  consisted  of  a  number  of 
feudal  principalities  or  provinces,  constituted  as  duchies, 
counties,  or  lordships  (for  instance,  the  duchy  of  Brabant, 
the  county  of  Flanders,  the  county  of  Holland),  all  of  which 
were  practically  independent  of  all  foreign  powers  and  of 
each  other,  although  there  was  not  one  to  which  France  or 
Germany  did  not,  by  some  unforgotten  feudal  right,  have  a 
claim.  In  the  later  Middle  Ages  a  collateral  branch  of  the 
House  of  France,  starting  with  the  duchy  of  Burgundy  as  a 
nucleus,  had  attempted  to  consolidate  these  provinces  into 
a  state  which  should  be  independent  of  both  the  western 
and  the  eastern  neighbor,  but  just  as  the  ambitious  project 
seemed  about  to  succeed,  the  family  died  out  in  the  male 
branch  with  Charles  the  Bold  (i477)- 

157 


158  The  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands 

i'he  Nether-  In  spite  of  this  calamity  the  political  experiment  of  the 

the  Hapsburgs.  Burgundian  princes  was  partially  successful.  Louis  XI. 
of  France,  on  the  death  of  his  relative  Charles  the  Bold,  did 
indeed  reincorporate  the  duchy  of  Burgundy  with  France, 
on  the  ground  that  it  had  fallen  to  him,  its  feudal  overlord, 
but  the  Netherlands  proper  were  left  in  the  hands  of  Charles 
the  Bold's  daughter,  Mary,  and  from  her  passed,  through 
her  marriage  with  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  to  the  House 
of  Hapsburg.  In  due  time  they  became  the  possession  of 
Maximilian's  grandson,  Charles  V.  Charles,  having  been 
born  in  the  Netherlands  in  the  city  of  Ghent,  had  a  just 
appreciation  of  the  value  of  this  corner  of  his  vast  dominions, 
and,  therefore,  continued  the  efforts  of  his  ancestors  at  con- 
solidating its  diverse  territories.  The  provinces,  seventeen 
in  number,  enjoyed  considerable  liberty.  Each  one  prac- 
tically ruled  itself  by  means  of  a  representative  body,  called 
the  Provincial  Estates,  while  the  cities  possessed  charters 
of  which  they  were  intensely  proud  and  which  gave  them 
the  guarantee  of  an  effective  self-government.  In  a  word, 
democracy  was  a  power  in  the  Netherlands.  Although  this 
condition  of  affairs  excited  the  suspicion  of  Charles,  he  did 
not  in  the  main  interfere  with  it,  but  contented  himself  with 
Charles  follows  pursuing  a  policy  of  centralization  which,  while  establishing 
centr'aLation.  ^  healthy  union,  would  put  the  provinces  more  under  his 
hand.  He  created  a  number  of  executive  and  administrative 
councils  at  Brussels,  designed  to  be  the  federal  capital,  and 
favored  the  national  parliament,  called  the  States-General, 
which  consisted  of  delegates  from  the  Provincial  Estates 
and  was  endowed  with  the  power  of  voting  supplies  to  the 
sovereign.  Thus,  under  Charles,  the  seventeen  provinces 
made  notable  progress  toward  a  better  political  union. 
Racecondi-  However,  sooner  or  later  an  obstacle  to  a  complete  and 

iTenteen"         perfect  union  was  likely  to  be  raised  by  the  fact  that  the 
provinces.  Netherlanders  were  racially  not  homogeneous.     In  some  ol 


And  Triumph  of  the  Seven   United  Provinces     159 


the  provinces,  chiefly  those  of  the  south  and  west,  French 
blood  and  speech  prevailed,  while  in  the  north  and  east 
dwelt  a  people  of  Teutonic  stock,  who  in  Flanders  and 
Brabant  used  a  speech  called  Flemish,  and  farther  to  the 
north,  in  Holland  and  Zealand,  spoke  a  very  similar  dialect 
called  Dutch.  In  the  Middle  Ages  differences  of  speech  and 
blood  were  no  reason  for  not  associating  several  peoples 
together  in  a  common  state,  and  Charles  and  his  ancestors 
cannot  be  blamed  for  the  attempt;  but  the  mere  fact  of  the 
growth  in  modern  times  of  race  feeling  was  sure  to  make 
their  project  difficult,  if  not  impossible. 

A  good  part  of  the  land  of  the  Low  Countries  is  below  Physical  feat 
the  level  of  the  sea,  and  has  been  won  from  that  element  and  canals, 
only  in  undaunted,  century-long  struggles  by  means  of  a 
system  of  dykes,  which  form  the  rampart  of  the  land  against 
the  hungry  water.  An  equally  great  danger  lay  in  the 
periodical  inundations  of  the  great  rivers,  the  Rhine,  the 
Meuse,  and  the  Scheldt,  which  converge  upon  the  sea  at  this 
point.  To  carry  off  their  overflow,  there  was  devised  and 
gradually  completed  a  system  of  canals  which  cover  the 
country  like  a  net  and  distribute  the  water  from  the  rivers 
over  a  vast  area.  The  plentiful  water-ways  of  Holland  and 
Belgium,  although  due  in  the  first  instance  to  necessity,  have 
proved  a  pure  blessing.  They  have  given  the  country  the 
greenest  and  the  richest  meadows  of  Eiu-ope,  and  besides 
furnish  thoroughfares  for  traffic  which  are  cheap,  durable, 
and,  winding  under  avenues  of  ancient  trees,  exceedingly 
picturesque. 

The  original  inhabitants  of  the  Netherlands  were  farmers,  The  advance 
herdsmen,  and  fishermen.     Commerce  and  industry,  gain-   andintelli- 
ing  a  foothold  gradually,  created  cities  which,  as  has  been  8^"*^^- 
already  indicated,  wrung  liberal  charters  from  their  feudal 
lords,  acquired  a  substantial  burgher  freedom,  and  aided 
by  their  situation,  favorable  to  a  world-wide  intercourse. 


i6o  The  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands 

presently  eclipsed  the  other  cities  of  the  north.  Antwerp, 
Bruges,  Ghent,  Haarlem,  and  many  other  cities  shared 
under  the  Burgundian  princes  in  the  extension  of  trade  and 
industry,  and  raised  their  country,  in  point  of  material  pros- 
perity and  of  intellectual  culture,  to  the  first  rank  m  north- 
ern Europe.  During  the  long  reign  of  Charles  V.  the  ac- 
tivity of  the  inhabitants  was  spurred  to  its  highest  capacity, 
and  the  country  advanced  steadily  in  every  department  of 
civilization. 
The  religious  The  reign  of  Charles  in  the  Netherlands,  so  successful  in 

Charles.  some  respects,  in  one  very  important  particular  laid  itself 

open  to  criticism.  The  religious  agitation  which  troubled 
Germany  was  naturally  disrespectful  of  landmarks,  and  at 
an  early  point  in  its  history  invaded  the  Low  Countries. 
Charles,  whose  dependence  upon  the  princes  of  the  Diet 
forced  him,  as  we  have  seen,  to  a  dilatory  policy  in  Ger- 
many, was  not  the  man  to  hesitate  where  he  had  the  power 
to  act.  In  the  Netherlands  the  Lutheran  heresy  was,  there- 
fore, met  on  its  appearance  by  a  relentless  hostility,  which 
waxed  more  and  more  fierce  as  Charles's  reign  proceeded. 
The  Inquisition,  with  its  bloody  record  of  triumphs  in 
Spain,  not  unnaturally  appealed  to  the  Spanish  monarch  as 
the  best  way  of  meeting  heresy  ever}'where.  Accordingly  it 
was  established  in  the  Netherlands,  special  inquisitors  being 
appointed  for  each  of  the  seventeen  provinces.  The  usual 
abominations  now  followed:  confiscations,  imprisonmentSj 
burnings  at  the  stake  became  common  occurrences.  The 
edicts  of  Charles  against  heresy  finally  went  so  far  as  to 
pronounce  the  penalty  of  death  against  persons  discovered 
to  have  in  their  possession  suspected  writings,  as  well  as 
against  persons  who  held  secret  prayer-meetings,  or  who 
ventured  merely  to  discuss  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The 
Protestants  in  the  Netherlands  were  long  hardly  more  than  a 
handful,  but  Charles's  rigor  did  not  exterminate  them.     In 


And  lyiujuph  of  the  Seven    United  Provinces      i6i 

fact,  their  numbers  swelled  constantly.  The  i)ersecution 
only  served  to  illustrate  once  more  the  famous  observation 
that  there  is  no  seed  like  martyr's  blood.  To  the  original 
Lutherans  were  soon  added  Anabaptists  and  other  revolu- 
tionary sects,  who  found  the  intelligent  and  liberal  society 
of  the  Netherlands  a  fertile  soil  for  the  propagation  of  their 
tenets,  and  from  the  middle  of  the  century  the  faith  of  Calvin, 
destined  to  give  the  Protestantism  of  Holland  its  peculiar 
mould,  found  admission,  by  way  of  France,  into  all  the  lead- 
ing cities.  The  Inquisition,  therefore,  gathered  a  rich 
harvest.  Contemporary  guesses  placed  the  figure  of  its 
victims  during  Charles's  reign  at  fifty  thousand.  This  is 
doubtless  an  exaggeration,  but  it  is  sufficiently  correct  to 
establish  that  monarch's  partial  guilt  in  the  great  tragedy 
which  followed.  But  as  Charles  was  well  loved  in  the 
Netherlands,  and  his  reign  was  in  other  respects  happy, 
there  occurred  during  his  life  no  important  outbreak  against 
his  system. 

In  the  year  1554,  broken  by  his  recent  failure  in  Germany,  The  abdication 
Charles  proceeded  to  carry  out  his  long-nursed  plan  of  re-  i^-^, 
signing  his  various  sovereignties  into  the  hands  of  his  son 
and  heir,  Philip,  He  began  by  investing  him  with  the  king- 
dom of  Naples.  In  the  year  1555  he  followed  with  the 
Netherlands.  He  summoned  the  States-General  to  Brussels, 
and  amid  the  pomp  and  circumstance  which  his  great  posi- 
tion entailed,  the  transfer  was  effected.  It  is  a  notable  stroke 
of  historical  irony  that  on  that  splendid  occasion  the  aging 
emperor  appeared  leaning  for  support  on  the  arm  of  a  young 
noble  who,  though  thus  designated  as  the  favorite  of  the  old 
ruler,  was  destined  to  prove  the  most  relentless  enemy  of  the 
new.    The  young  man  was  William  of  Orange. 

The  harsh,  cold  mind  of  Philip  II.  was  even  less  adapt-  increasing 
ed  than  his  father's  to  solve  the  religious  troubles  of  the  underPWhp. 
Netherlands.     Like  his  father,  his  one  notion  of  healinj^ 


1 62 


The  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands 


The  Peace  of 
Cateau-Cam- 
bresis,  1559. 


The  growing 
discontent. 


heresy  was  to  extirpate  it,  root  and  branch.  The  Inquisi- 
tion was  spurred  on  to  greater  activity,  until  the  fagot  piles 
were  heaped  in  every  hamlet.  Philip  himself  remained  in 
the  Netherlands  to  watch  over  the  execution  of  his  orders, 
while  terror  began  to  steal,  like  a  spectre,  into  every  house- 
hold. The  majority  of  the  people,  though  still  Catholic, 
were  filled  with  a  profound  aversion  to  the  senseless  policy 
of  the  inquisitors,  and  a  growing  discontent,  boding  a  storm, 
settled  upon  all  classes. 

But  there  was  other  work  in  the  world  for  Philip  besides 
persecuting  the  Flemish  and  Dutch  Protestants.  In  order 
finally  to  have  his  hands  free  he  wished  to  close,  by  a  decisive 
stroke,  his  father's  long  wars  with  France.  He  therefore 
prepared  for  a  vigorous  campaign.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  in  1554  he  had  married  Queen  Mary  of  England, 
thereby  securing  himself  a  valuable  ally.  Having  twice 
defeated  the  French,  at  St.  Quentin  (1557)  and  at  Grave- 
lines  (1558),  and  having  in  consequence  disposed  them  to 
a  settlement,  he  refused  to  concern  himself  further  about 
allied  England,  and  concluded  with  France  the  Peace  of 
Cateau-Cambresis  (1559).  England  paid  for  the  assistance 
she  had  rendered  Spain  by  the  loss  of  Calais;  but  Philip  got 
what  he  wanted.  The  Peace  of  Cateau-Cambresis  closed 
for  the  present  the  long  rivalry  of  France  and  Spain,  secured 
to  Philip  his  possession  of  the  Netherlands  and  Italy,  and 
was  the  substantial  admission  of  his  supremacy  in  Europe. 
Now,  at  last,  he  resolved  to  go  to  Spain.  Leaving  his  half- 
sister,  Margaret  of  Parma,  as  regent  in  the  Netherlands,  he 
sailed  away  (1559),  never  to  return. 

His  departure  hurried  the  threatening  crisis.  The  gov- 
ernment had  been  intrusted  to  Margaret,  as  regent,  and  to 
a  council,  composed  chiefly  of  Philip's  creatures.  It  is 
plain  that  if  the  master  had  encountered  opposition,  the 
same  measures  applied  by  his  representatives  were  bound 


And  Triumph  of  the  Seven   United  Provinces      163 

to  arouse  furious  resentment.  ^Moreover,  the  government, 
far  from  taking  any  trouble  to  attach  the  people  to  itself, 
seemed  rather  to  make  a  business  of  alienating  every  class. 
The  nobles,  whom  Charles  had  wisely  given  employment  in 
the  administration  and  army,  found  themselves  supplanted 
by  Philip's  favorites,  many  of  them  foreigners.  Naturally, 
their  grievances  brought  them  more  closely  together,  and 
the  most  powerful,  such  as  Prince  William  of  Orange  and 
the  Counts  Egmont  and  Horn,  became  the  leaders  of  the 
opposition.  The  burghers  had  even  a  longer  list  of  com- 
plaints than  the  nobles.  They  were  excited  by  the  quarter- 
ing on  their  towns  of  Spanish  troops  against  the  express 
terms  of  their  charters;  they  complained  of  the  multiplica- 
tion of  bishoprics,  which  they  feared  would  put  them  under 
the  heels  of  the  Church;  and,  finally,  they  were  insulted  by 
the  grievance,  now  a  generation  old  and  borne  with  less  and 
less  patience,  of  the  Inquisition  and  its  judicial  murders. 
Discontent  was  plainly  ripening  to  revolt. 

The  occasion  for  the  rising  was  furnished  by  the  lesser  The  protest  of 
nobles,  who  were  secretly  encouraged,  though  not  openly  i;66.^  "' 
joined,  by  William  of  Orange.  In  1565  they  formed  a  league 
among  themselves,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  secure  the 
abolition  of  the  Inquisition,  operating,  as  they  put  it,  "to 
the  great  dishonor  of  the  name  of  God  and  to  the  total  ruin 
of  the  Netherlands."  In  the  same  document  in  which  they 
made  this  complaint  they  avowed  their  continued  allegiance 
to  the  king.  It  was  not  the  dynasty  against  which  they 
protested,  but  the  abuse  which  the  dynasty  upheld.  On 
April  5,  1566,  three  hundred  of  their  number  proceeded  to 
the  palace  of  the  regent  at  Brussels  to  lay  a  statement  of 
their  grievances  in  her  hands.  In  spite  of  her  rage  at  the 
impertinent  demonstration,  she  commanded  her  tongue  suf- 
ficiently to  promise  to  present  their  case  to  the  king.  In 
a  banquet  held  by  the  nobles  in  the  evening  they  were  in- 


164 


TJie  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands 


The  iconoclas- 
tic furv  of 
1566. ' 


The  coming  of 
Alva. 


formed  that  one  of  the  hated  brood  of  courtiers  had  sHght- 
ingly  referred  to  them  as  beggars  (gueux).  Amid  a  scene  of 
frenzied  excitement  they  adopted  the  term  as  their  party 
name,  and  assumed  as  badges  the  beggar's  wallet,  staff,  and 
wooden  bowl. 

The  courageous  protest  of  the  "  beggars "  against  the 
Inquisition,  followed  by  their  open  defiance  of  authority, 
thrilled  the  whole  country.  The  government  of  the  regent 
was  set  at  naught  under  the  impression  that  the  auspi- 
cious moment  was  at  hand  for  ridding  the  country  of  the 
monstrous  incubus  of  the  Inquisition.  Its  prisoners  were 
forcibly  released,  and  persecution  interdicted,  while  the 
Protestants  openly  avowed  their  faith,  and  gathering  in 
bands  and  multitudes  listened  Avith  greedy  ears  to  the 
revolutionary  addresses  of  fanatic  pastors.  At  length  the 
excitement  culminated  in  a  furious  revolt.  The  Catholic 
churches  were  invaded,  their  pictured  windows,  their  saintly 
images  were  broken,  tiieir  crosses  and  altars  were  shattered 
to  fragments.  The  ruin  of  art  wrought  by  these  iconoclasts 
was  incalculable.  It  was  weeks  before  the  fury  spent  itself, 
and  months  before  the  government,  rallying  the  orderly 
elements  about  it,  succeeded  in  repressing  the  insurgents. 
Philip  had  received  his  warning.     Would  he  understand  it? 

It  is  very  possible  that  the  abolition  of  the  Inquisition, 
coupled  with  the  proclamation  of  religious  tolerance  which 
public  sentiment  demanded,  would  have  put  an  end  to  all 
trouble.  But  these  ideas  were  foreign  to  the  rulers  of  that 
day,  and  seemed  nothing  less  than  deadly  sin  to  a  fanatical 
Catholic  like  Philip.  Instead  of  assisting  the  regent  in 
restoring  order  and  confidence,  he  planned  a  fearful  ven- 
geance. One  of  his  best  generals  was  the  duke  of  Alva. 
Soldier  and  bigot,  he  was  the  typical  Spaniard  of  the  day. 
animated  with  blind  devotion  to  his  king  and  to  his  faith. 
This  man  of  iron  was  commissioned  with  the  punishment 


And  Triumph  of  the  Seven   United  Provinces      165 


of  the  Netherlands,  and  in  the  summer  of  1567  arrived  at 
Brussels  at  the  head  of  an  excellent  corps  of  10,000  Span- 
iards. The  Netherlands,  it  must  be  remembered,  though 
they  happened  to  have  the  same  sovereign  as  Spain,  were 
not  a  Spanish  province.  Alva's  coming  was,  therefore,  an 
invasion,  and  terror  flew  before  him.  Every  thinking  man 
foresaw  a  period  of  violence,  and  William  of  Orange,  with 
a  host  of  those  who  felt  themselves  compromised  by  the  re- 
cent events,  crossed  the  border  into  safety. 

Alva  did  not  long  leave  the  anxious  people  in  doubt  as  to   Council  of 
the  meaning  of  his  coming.     A  council,  infamous  in  history   Reign  of 
as  the  Council  of  Blood,  was  set  up  for  the  discovery  of  all  Terror, 
those  who  had  taken  part  in  the  late  image-breaking  and 
were   suspected  of  disloyalty   and  heresy.     It  was  a  re- 
doubled Inquisition,  freed  from  the  delays  of  law  and  the 
promptings  of  human  picy.    Hundreds  and  probably  thous- 
ands died   by  sword   and  fire;    tens   of   thousands   from 
among  the  best  of  the  land  fled  from  the  country.     Among 
the  more  illustrious  victims  of  the  executioner  were  Egmont 
and  Horn,   whom  neither  their   Catholic   faith  nor  their 
services  to  the  king  could  save.     Paralyzed  by  the  violence 
of  the  attack,  the  country  meekly  suffered  the  unheard-of 
persecution. 

In  these  difficulties  the  first  help  came  from  William  of  WiUiamof 

.  _,  r       •!        Orange,  called 

Orange.  William  belonged  to  an  ancient  German  family,  the  Silent, 
which  had  its  seat  in  Nassau  in  western  Germany.  At  an 
early  age  he  had  inherited  from  a  cousin  the  tiny  principality 
of  Orange  on  the  Rhone,  which  he  never  thought  it  worth 
while  even  to  visit.  However,  he  took  his  title  from  this 
French  possession.  His  connection  with  the  Netherlands 
sprung  from  the  fact  that  he  was  possessed  of  large  estates 
there,  chiefly  in  Holland  and  Brabant,  and  was  employed 
by  his  early  patron,  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  in  the  service 
of  the  provinces.     Beginning  with  a  secret,  intriguing  oppo- 


1 66  The  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands 

sition  to  the  tyrannical  policy  of  Philip,  he  identified  himself 
more  and  more  frankly  with  the  cause  of  liberty,  until  on 
the  coming  of  Alva  he  inaugurated  a  career  which  led  to  the 
liberation  of  his  adopted  country  and  has  made  him  one  of 
the  heroes  of  humanity.  He  was  but  a  mediocre  general; 
his  fame  does  not  even  rest  upon  his  statesmanship,  though 
in  this  respect  he  was  the  equal  of  the  subtlest  diplomats  of 
his  day.  His  chief  title  to  distinction  is  his  stout,  courageous 
heart.  Frequently  almost  single-handed,  and  at  best  with 
only  the  divided  support  of  his  little  people,  he  braved  the 
world  power  of  Spain,  and  through  defeat  piled  on  defeat 
held  out  in  his  resolution.  He  became  known  as  William 
the  Silent,  not  without  a  touch  of  inconsistency,  for  he  was 
famed  for  his  eloquence  and  was  the  most  courteous  of 
gentlemen;  but  if  the  epithet  conveys  the  impression  of  a 
fortitude  unwearied  and  uncomplaining,  no  more  appro- 
priate title  could  have  been  bestowed  on  him. 
William  levies  In  the  Spring  of  1568  William,  having  turned  all  his  avail- 
Philip,  1568.  able  possessions  into  money,  and  having  summoned  the 
most  daring  exiles  around  him,  began  gathering  an  army  for 
the  purpose  of  invading  the  Netherlands.  His  project  was 
equivalent  to  a  declaration  of  war  against  Philip.  As  coming 
from  himself  such  an  act  was  at  best  a  piece  of  sublime  folly, 
but  if  he  could  rouse  the  Netherlanders  to  support  him,  it 
would  acquire  the  altogether  different  aspect  of  the  rebellion 
of  an  outraged  people  to  secure  their  inalienable  rights.  To 
fill  the  provinces  with  his  own  spirit  of  resistance  became 
William's  supreme  object,  and  gradually,  although  not 
without  disappointments  and  delays,  he  succeeded.  As 
a  result  a  small  people  challenged  the  greatest  power  of 
Europe,  and  after  a  dramatic  struggle  of  eighty  years  (1568- 
1648)  issued  from  the  fight  as  \-ictor.  No  war  more  honor- 
able than  this  has  ever  been  waged  in  the  history  of  the 
human  race. 


And  Triumph  of  the  Seven   United  Provinces      167 

The  first  campaign  proved  the  complete  superiority  of  William  and 
Spanish  generalship  and  the  Spanish  soldiery.  William's 
army,  largely  composed  of  ill-paid  mercenaries,  was  defeated 
and  scattered.  Alva,  in  consequence,  made  light  of  the 
invasion.  It  had  not  been  supported,  as  William  had  calcu- 
lated, by  an  internal  rising.  To  all  appearances  the 
country,  crushed  under  the  Spanish  heel,  had  fallen  into 
a  torpor.  But  if  this  was  what  Alva  counted  on,  he  was 
destined  before  long  to  a  harsh  awakening.  The  Nether- 
lands had  indeed  failed  from  fear  to  respond  to  William's 
first  call,  but  unfortunate  as  the  campaign  of  1568  was,  it 
had  had  its  effect;  it  had  excited  the  people  for  a  moment 
with  the  hope  of  deliverance  and  so  stiffened  them  for  resist- 
ance. Alva's  own  folly  did  the  rest.  Every  act  of  his 
strengthened  them  in  their  feeling  that  death  was  better  than 
life  under  Spanish  rule.  This  appeared  when  Alva  at- 
tempted (157 1)  to  fill  his  empty  treasury  by  a  system  of  out- 
rageous extortion,  the  chief  feature  of  which  was  a  tax  called 
the  Tenth  Penny,  consisting  of  the  levy  of  ten  per  cent  upon  The  Tenth 
every  commercial  transaction,  even  upon  the  purchase  of  ^"'^^^ 
daily  necessities.  To  this  monstrous  proposition  the  citi- 
zens responded  simply  by  the  closing  of  their  shops  and  che 
total  cessation  of  business. 

While  Alva  was  still  embarrassed  by  the  commercial 
deadlock  which  he  had  himself  created,  there  came  the 
news  of  the  first  triumph  of  the  exiles.  If  Spain  held  the 
land  in  her  iron  grasp,  she  could  not  in  the  same  unchal- 
lenged way  hold  the  sea,  peculiarly  the  element  of  the  Dutch. 
Dutch  freebooters,  proudly  calling  themselves  "beggars  of 
the  sea  "  in  imitation  of  the  first  brotherhood  of  the  ene- 
mies of  Spain,  had  long  done  great  harm  to  Spanish  trade, 
but  now,  rendered  bold  by  long  battle  with  wind  and  wave, 
they  swept  down   upon   the  coast,  and  secured  the  first  The  Dutch 

'  success  at 

stronghold  in  their  fatherland  at  a  point  called  Brill  (April   Brill,  1572. 


1 68 


The  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands 


Rising  of 
Holland  and 
Zealand. 

B  arbarous 
character  of 
the  war. 


Recall  of  Alva. 


The  siege  of 
Leyden,  1574. 


I,  1572).  A  score  of  towns,  especially  in  the  northern 
provinces,  felt  suddenly  encouraged  to  drive  the  Spaniards 
out,  and  Alva  unexpectedly  found  his  power  limited  to  Brus- 
sels and  the  south.  Thereupon  the  liberated  province  of 
Holland  elected  William  the  Silent  Stadtholder  or  governor; 
and  Holland  and  Zealand  together,  both  situated  on  the  sea. 
became  from  this  time  forth  the  heart  of  the  Dutch  resistance. 

Thrown  into  the  fiercest  mood  by  these  sudden  reverses, 
Alva  prepared  to  win  back  the  lost  ground.  Pity  hence- 
forth was  excluded  from  his  thoughts.  JSIons,  Mechlin, 
Haarlem,  and  many  other  towns  which  he  recaptured  were 
delivered  to  the  unbridled  excesses  of  the  Spanish  soldiery. 
Women  and  children  were  slaughtered  in  cold  blood.  The 
war  entered  upon  a  new  stage,  in  which  oppressors  and  op- 
pressed thirsted  for  each  other's  blood  like  wild  beasts,  and 
neither  sought  nor  gave  quarter.  It  was  a  fight  to  the  last 
ditch  and  of  unexampled  fury. 

Alva's  incapacity  to  deal  with  the  situation  was  soon 
apparent  to  friend  and  foe.  Before  the  walls  of  Alkmaar 
he  met,  in  the  year  1573,  with  a  serious  check.  His  six 
years  of  government  (1567-73)  by  Council  of  Blood  and 
Tenth  Penny  had  ended  in  unqualified  disaster.  Tortured 
by  gout  and  tired  of  staring  at  the  ruin  about  him,  he  de- 
manded his  recall. 

His  successor  as  Spanish  governor-general  was  Requesens 
(1573-76).  Requesens  was  a  sensible,  moderate  man,  who 
might  have  done  something  if  matters  had  not  gone  so  far 
under  Alva.  But  although  he  abolished  the  Council  of 
Blood  and  the  Tenth  Penny,  and  proclaimed  an  amnesty, 
everybody  continued  to  look  upon  him  with  distrust.  So  he 
had  to  proceed  with  the  military  conquest  of  the  still  un- 
subdued province  of  Holland.  The  most  notable  event  of  his 
administration  was  the  siege  of  Leyden  (i 573-74)-  ^Vhen 
the  city  seemed  for  failure  of  provisions  to  be  lost,  ^^'illiam 


And  Triumph  of  the  Seven   United  Provinces     169 

of  Orange,  all  of  whose  attempts  to  succor  the  city  had  been 

thwarted,  resolved  on  an  extreme  measure;  he  ordered  that 

the  dykes  be  cut.     As  the  water  of  the  sea  rushed  over  the 

fields,  the  "beggars"  crowded  after  in  their  ships,  until  their 

heroic  efforts  brought  them  to  the  walls  of  the  city.     Thus 

Leyden  was  saved,  and  its  name  was  celebrated  with  tears 

and  thank-offerings  wherever  Protestants  in  Europe  met  to 

commune.     Prince  William  and  the  sister  cities  of  Holland, 

wishing  to  reward  the  brave  inhabitants  for  their  heroism, 

founded  a  university  at  Leyden,  which  rapidly  rose  to  the 

front  rank  and  still  stands  as  a  monument  of  enlightened 

patriotism. 

The  death  of  Requesens,  which  occurred  in  1576,  was  The  death  of 

the  indirect  cause  of  a  further  extension  of  the  revolt.     As  and  dirPacifi 

yet  it  had  been  confined  to  the  provinces  of  the  north,   cation  of 
^  ^  '    Ghent,  1576. 

which  had  generally  adopted  the  Protestantism  of  Calvin, 
and  to  such  occasional  cities  of  the  south  as  inclined  toward 
the  same  faith.  Revolt  from  Spain  followed  swiftly  and 
inevitably  upon  the  heels  of  Protestantism.  The  grievances 
of  the  southern  provinces  against  Spain  were  certainly  as 
great  as  those  of  the  north,  but  as  the  southerners  clung  to 
the  Catholic  faith,  they  felt  less  passionately  exasperated 
against  the  Spanish  rule.  For  a  brief  moment,  however, 
following  the  death  of  Requesens,  north  and  south,  Dutch 
and  French,  Protestant  and  Catholic — in  a  word,  the  United 
Netherlands — bound  themselves  together  in  one  resistance. 
The  occasion  was  furnished  by  the  general  horror  inspired 
by  the  Spanish  soldiery,  which,  left  upon  the  death  of  Re- 
quesens without  leaders  and  without  pay,  indulged  in  a  wild 
orgy  of  theft,  murder,  and  pillage.  The  "Spanish  Fury,"  as 
the  outbreak  was  called,  did  especial  damage  at  Antwerp. 
This,  the  richest  trading  city  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  was 
looted  from  garret  to  cellar  and  subjected  to  losses  estimated 
at  one  hundred  million  dollars  in  our  money.     Indignation 


I/O 


The  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands 


North  and 
south  go  their 
own  wa}'. 


The  duke  of 
Parma,  1578- 
92. 


The  Union  of 
Arras,  1579. 


at  these  outrages  swept  the  country,  and  in  an  agreement 
of  the  year  1576,  called  the  Pacification  of  Ghent,  north  and 
south  declared  that  they  would  not  rest  until  the  Spanish 
troops  were  withdrawn  from  the  land  and  the  old  liberties 
restored. 

It  was  the  most  auspicious  moment  of  the  revolution,  but 
it  was  not  destined  to  bear  fruit.  The  religious  distrust  be- 
tween Protestants  and  Catholics,  and  in  less  degree  the  in- 
herent differences  between  peoples  of  French  and  German 
blood,  fomented  by  Don  John  of  Austria  (1576-78)  and 
the  shrewd  duke  of  Parma  (1578-92),  who  succeeded  Re- 
quesens  as  Spanish  governors,  soon  annulled  the  Pacification 
of  Ghent  and  drove  a  wedge  between  the  north  and  south, 
the  result  of  which  we  still  trace  to-day  in  the  existence  of  a 
Protestant  Holland  and  a  Catholic  Belgium. 

It  was  especially  owing  to  Alexander  Farnese,  duke  of 
Parma,  who  was  son  of  the  former  regent  Margaret  and 
nephew  of  Philip,  that  the  southern  provinces  were  saved  for 
Spain.  Alexander,  in  addition  to  being  endowed  with  mili- 
tary genius  of  a  high  order,  was  master  of  all  the  ruses  and 
subterfuges  which  passed  for  diplomacy  in  his  day.  The 
historian  Motley  accounts  it  as  not  his  least  triumph  that 
he  could  outdo  that  pastmaster  in  the  art  of  prevarication, 
Elizabeth.  He  undertook  to  win  the  southern  provinces  to 
his  side  by  adroit  flattery  of  their  Catholic  prejudices.  In 
January,  1579,  three  of  them,  Artois,  Hainault,  and  French 
Flanders,  signed  the  Treaty  of  Arras,  which  was  practically 
a  surrender  to  Spain.  With  heavy  heart  William  saw  the 
prospect  of  a  United  Netherlands,  heralded  by  the  Pacifica- 
tion of  Ghent,  vanish,  and  almost  reluctantly  prepared  for 
a  closer  union  of  the  provinces,  faithful  to  the  pledge  of  re- 
sistance to  the  death.  In  1579  the  provinces  of  the  north, 
finally  seven  in  number,  and  Protestant  without  exception- 
Holland,  Zealand.  Utrecht,  Gelderland,  Overyssel,  Gronin- 


NOTE  TO  THE  STUDENT: 
Locate  the  seven  provinces  which  united  to  form  the 
Dutch  republic.     Notice   tliat  the   Bishopric  of  Liege,    .    ^^'^  \ 

governed    in    practical    independence    by   the    bishop,    ^V^ P- 

drives  a  wedge   between   Luxemburg  and  the  rest  of   ^ 
the  Spanish  Netherlands. 


And  Triumph  of  the  Seven   United  Provinces      171 


gen,  and  Friesland — formed,  for  the  purpose  of  an  improved 
defence,  the  Union  of  Utrecht.     Therewith  there  was  born  The  Union  of 
into  the  world  a  new  state,  the  Dutch  Republic,  for  which       ^^'^    ''^^^ 
the  articles  drawn  up  at  Utrecht  served  as  a  constitution. 

The  new  Republic  did  not  entirely  renounce  the  sovereign-  The  new 
ty  of  Philip  until  1581.  That  was,  however,  after  the  bold  act  pubUc. 
of  Utrecht,  a  mere  formality,  and  does  not  affect  the  state- 
ment that  the  Dutch  nation  was  born  in  1579.  The  Union 
of  Utrecht,  like  many  another  constitution  uniting  a  number 
of  jealously  independent  states,  had  some  signal  defects. 
It  did  not  create  a  sufficiently  powerful  executive,  and  did 
not  give  the  central  legislative  body,  called  the  States-Gen- 
eral, free  control  of  taxation.  For  the  present,  however,  the 
personal  ascendancy  of  William,  who  was  made  Stadtholder 
or  governor  of  the  most  important  provinces,  made  up  for 
the  inefficient  federal  arrangements. 

Thus  the  struggle  went  on,  William,  with  a  foothold  in  the  The  ban  and 
north,  against  Parma,  with  a  foothold  in  the  south,  while  be-  o^."  ^ 
tween  them  lay  the  rich  Flemish  provinces  of  Flanders  and 
Brabant,  which,  flattered  and  assaulted  by  both  sides,  wav- 
ered irresolutely,  and  might  fall  either  way.  However,  the 
skill  of  Parma,  backed  by  the  resources  of  Spain,  now  began 
to  tell.  City  after  city  in  the  neutral  zone  had  already 
yielded  to  the  Spaniard,  when  there  happened  a  calamity 
which  seemed  like  the  verdict  of  fate  against  the  cause  of 
liberty.  Philip  and  Parma  had  long  reasoned  that  if  death 
would  only  remove  William  from  the  scene  the  insurrection 
would  collapse.  Finally,  since  fate  seemed  reluctant,  they 
resolved  to  come  to  its  assistance,  and  in  1580  Philip  pub- 
lished a  ban  against  his  rebellious  subject,  offering  gold  and 
a  patent  of  nobility  to  whoever  would  remove  him  from  the 
living.  William  justified  himself  against  Philip's  charges  in 
a  pamphlet  called  the  "Apology,"  wherein  he  drew  a  sting- 
ing portrait  of  the  patron  of  assassins.    Nevertheless,  the 


1/2 


TJie  Revolt  of  the  NetJierlmids 


The  murder  of 
Will  am,  1584. 


The  Dutch 
Republic  ap- 
peals for  help 
to  France  and 
England. 


ban  was  William''s  death-warrant.  Many  abortive  attempts 
had  already  been  made  upon  his  life,  when  Balthasar  Ge- 
rard, a  Frenchman  from  the  Franche  Comte,  and  one  of 
those  unflinching  fanatics  in  which  the  age  abounded,  pierced 
his  breast  with  a  bullet.  The  murder  occurred  on  July  10^ 
1584,  on  the  stairway  of  the  prince's  palace  at  Delft.  The 
victim's  last  thoughts  turned  toward  the  struggle  in  which 
his  country  was  engaged.  "Lord  have  pity  on  my  soul," 
he  said,  "and  on  this  poor  people."  Gerard  was  executed 
amid  atrocities  against  which  every  act  of  William's  life  was 
a  protest,  while  Philip  exulted  in  the  deed  and  rewarded  the 
heirs  of  the  murderer  according  to  his  promise. 

William's  death  could  not  have  come  at  a  more  inauspi- 
cious time,  for  Parma's  fortunes  just  then  were  mounting  to 
their  zenith.  In  1585  the  great  city  of  Antwerp  fell  into  his 
hands  after  a  long  and  memorable  siege,  and  now  only  Hol- 
land and  Zealand  remained  to  be  conquered.  What  were 
the  weary  Dutch  to  do?  Their  dead  leader  had  held  that 
their  independence  could  only  be  conquered  with  the  help  of 
foreign  powers,  and  had  long  directed  passionate  appeals 
for  assistance  to  France  and  England.  But  these  states, 
fearful  of  the  power  of  Philip,  had  hesitated.  Although 
Elizabeth  occasionally  sent  secret  encouragement  in  the  form 
of  money,  she  would  not  commit  herself  openly.  France, 
too,  vacillated,  but,  at  one  time,  just  before  William's  death, 
went  the  length  of  sending  the  duke  of  Anjou,  brother  of  the 
king,  to  the  aid  of  the  insurgents.  Anjou  was  offered  the 
crown  of  the  Netherlands  on  the  understanding  that  he 
would  rid  the  country  of  the  Spaniards,  but  he  proved  a 
broken  reed,  intrigued,  quarrelled  with  everybody,  and 
left  the  country  in  disgrace  in  the  very  year  of  William's 
tragic  end.  There  was  now  no  chance  of  help  except  from 
Elizabeth,  and  the  Dutch,  at  the  end  of  their  tether,  made 
her  a  pressing  tender  of  the  young  Republic.     Although 


And  Triumph  of  the  Seven   United  Provinces      173 

the  prospect  was  inviting,  moved  by  her  customary  caution 

she  declined  the  dangerous  honor.    Nevertheless,  she  could 

no  longer  vsrith  due  regard  to  her  own  safety  refuse  to  grant 

substantial  help.     Spain  and  England  had  already  begun  to 

clash  upon  the  sea,  and  the  sentiment  of  the  English  people 

had  declared  vehemently  for  the  hard-pressed  Protestants 

of  the  Netherlands.      For  years  Sir  Francis   Drake   and 

others  had  been  engaged  in  piratical  raids,  which  they 

called  singeing  the  beard  of  the  king  of  Spain.    Philip  was 

nursing  a  just  grievance  in  silence,  but  if  ever  he  recovered 

the  Low  Countries,  it  was  certain  to  go  hard  with  England. 

Ungenerous  as  Elizabeth  was  where  others  were  concerned,   Elizabeth 

she  had  a  sharp  eye  for  her  own  interests,  and  therefore  in   Dutch  under 

December,  1585,  signed  a  treaty  with  the  Dutch,  whereby  her  protection 

she  promised  to  send  6,000  soldiers  to  their  aid. 

When  the  Englishmen  came,  under  the  command  of  the 
earl  of  Leicester,  the  queen's  favorite,  they  did  perhaps 
more  harm  than  good,  for  Leicester  shamefully  betrayed 
the  people  he  had  come  to  serve.  His  entrance  upon  the 
war  none  the  less  marks  an  epoch,  for  by  this  step  England 
definitely  took  sides  in  the  struggle,  and  Philip  was  made 
to  see  that  the  conquest  of  the  island-kingdom  was  an  un- 
avoidable preliminary  to  the  reduction  of  his  revolted  prov- 
inces. Therefore  he  began  to  collect  all  his  resources  for  Philip's  attack 
an  attack  upon  the  English.  In  the  year  1588  his  Invincible  against  Eng- 
Armada  spread  sail  for  England,  only  to  be  ruined  by  p"ance^ 
Elizabeth's  valiant  fleet  and  scattered  by  the  tempests. 
Almost  at  the  same  time  the  Protestant  Henry  of  Navarre 
succeeded  to  the  French  throne  (1589),  and  Philip,  alarmed 
at  this  new  peril,  resolved  to  move  heaven  and  earth  to  save 
the  neighbor  kingdom  for  Catholicism.  Thus  fate,  or 
chance,  or  a  too  unbridled  ambition  led  him  to  direct  his 
power  on  enterprises  which  carried  him  far  afield  and 
obliged  him  to  relax  his  hold  upon  the  Netherlands.     The 


174 


TJie  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands 


Maurice  of 
Nassau. 


The  Twelve 
Years'  Truce, 
1609. 


Renewal  of  the 
war  and  Peace 
of  Westphalia. 


Troubles  of 
the  young 
Republic, 


ensuing  wars  with  England  and  France  weakened  him  to 
such  a  degree  that  he  never  returned  to  his  attack  upon  his 
rebel  subjects  with  his  early  vigor.  Moreover,  his  great 
general,  Parma,  died  in  the  year  1592,  while  the  Dutch,  who 
had  hitherto  reaped  nothing  but  misfortune  upon  the  battle 
field,  put  themselves  under  the  command  of  a  gifted  leader 
in  the  person  of  Maurice  of  Nassau,  William's  son  and  heir, 
who  had  a  special  genius  for  conducting  sieges,  and  who 
won  back  place  after  place,  while  the  hardy  Dutch  sailors 
swept  home  and  foreign  waters  clear  of  Spanish  fleets.  It 
was  the  Spaniards  now  who  were  pressed  in  their  turn. 
When,  in  1598,  Philip  was  nearing  his  end,  his  cause  among 
the  Dutch  had  become  hopeless;  still,  too  proud  to  acknowl- 
edge defeat,  he  stubbornly  fought  on,  and  his  son  Philip 
III.  persisted  in  the  same  wasteful  and  impracticable  course. 
Only  when  utterly  exhausted  did  he  humble  his  pride  suffi- 
ciently to  agree,  in  the  year  1609,  to  a  Twelve  Years'  Truce. 

It  was  not  the  end,  but  as  good  as  the  end.  When  the 
truce  was  over  (1621),  the  Thirty  Years'  War  was  raging  in 
Europe,  and  although  Spain  tried  to  make  the  confusion 
serve  her  purposes,  and  again  attacked  the  Dutch,  the  firm 
resistance  of  the  hardy  little  nation  rendered  the  second  ef- 
fort at  subjugation  even  more  vain  than  the  first.  When  the 
Peace  of  Westphalia  (1648)  put  an  end  to  the  long  German 
war,  Spain  at  last  declared  herself  ready  for  the  great  re- 
nunciation, and  acknowledged  the  unqualified  independence 
of  the  Dutch  Republic. 

But  abundant  as  was  the  har\'est  of  glory  which  the  young 
Republic  gathered  in  its  eighty  years'  struggle  with  Spain, 
it  was  not  saved  the  shocks  and  sorrows  which  are  the  com- 
mon lot  of  life.  A  source  of  very  constant  trouble  lay  in  the 
loose  confederation  of  the  seven  provinces.  It  has  been 
stated  that  the  Union  of  Utrecht  did  not  create  a  strong 
central  authority  and  left  the  provincial  governments  prac- 


And  Triumph  of  the  Seven   United  Provinces      175 

ticallv  in  control.     As  a  result  the  Republic  seemed  fre-  Weakness  of 

\  ,  .    ^      .       .        ^        .  ,  •    ^    •       J    the  Confedern- 

quently  on  the  point  of  going  to  pieces,  and  was  maintained  tion. 
largely  by  the  fact  that  Holland,  being  more  important  than 
the  other  six  provinces  put  together,  could  impose  her  will 
on  them.  This  is  the  federal  diflSculty  under  which  the  new 
Republic  labored,  but  no  less  disturbing  was  what  we  may 
:xill  the  Orange  problem.  Maurice  had  contributed  im- 
mensely to  the  ultimate  success  of  the  Dutch,  and  thus  what, 
his  father  had  begun  well  he  had  ended  brilliantly.  The 
hearts  of  a  grateful  people  turned  to  him;  they  made  him 
Stadtholder  or  governor;  they  gave  him  the  command  on 
land  and  sea.  There  were  those,  however,  who  believed 
his  position  incompatible  with  republican  tradition,  and 
Maurice,  who  nursed  a  vast  ambition,  must  be  acknowledged 
to  have  lent  some  color  to  their  suspicions.  It  was  mur- 
mured in  secret  that  he  wished  to  make  himself  king.  To 
any  such  ambition  the  rich  burgher  class,  who  by  reason  of 
a  narrow  franchise  dominated  in  the  government  of  city  and 
province,  were  bitterly  opposed,  as  likely  to  interfere  with 
their  monopoly  of  power,  and  under  their  able  leader,  John 
of  Barneveldt,  they  began  to  organize  in  opposition  to  the 
House  of  Nassau.  Thus  the  burgher  and  Orange  parties,  Republicans 
representing  respectively  oligarchical  and  monarchical  prin- 
ciples, stood  face  to  face.  They  clashed  for  the  first  time 
with  violence  in  1619,  when  Maurice  by  a  very  high-handed 
act  seized  Barneveldt  and  had  him  executed.  Therewith 
the  Orange  party  acquired  an  ascendancy  which  lasted  till 
the  middle  of  the  century,  when  the  burghers  once  more  got 
the  upper  hand.  In  fact,  the  whole  seventeenth  century-  is 
marked  by  a  continual  fluctuation  of  control  from  Orangists 
to  burghers  and  back  again.  Although  Spain  hoped  much 
from  these  dissensions,  they  benefited  her  nothing,  and 
hardly  impaired,  even  momentarily,  the  marvellous  Dutch 
development. 


1/6 


The  Revolt  of  the  Netherlands 


The  progress 
of  civilization. 


The  decay  of 
the  southern 
provinces. 


In  fact,  the  commercial  and  intellectual  advance  of  the 
Republic  during  the  course  of  the  war  remains  the  most 
astonishing  feature  of  the  period.  It  was  as  if  the  heroic 
struggle  gave  the  nation  an  irresistible  energy,  which  it 
could  turn  with  success  into  any  channel.  The  little  sea- 
board state,  which  human  valor  had  made  habitable  almost 
against  the  decrees  of  nature,  became  in  the  seventeenth 
century  not  only  one  of  the  great  political  powers  of  Eu- 
rope, but  actually  the  leader  in  commerce  and  in  certain 
branches  of  industr}^;  contributed,  beyond  any  other  nation, 
to  contemporary  science;  and  produced  a  school  of  painting 
the  glories  of  which  are  hardly  inferior  to  those  of  the  Ital- 
ian schools  of  the  Renaissance.  Such  names  as  Hugo  Gro- 
tius  (d.  1645),  the  founder  of  international  law;  Spinoza 
(d.  1677),  the  philosopher;  Rembrandt  (d.  1674)  and  Frans 
Hals  (d.  1666),  the  painters,  furnish  sufficient  support  to  the 
claim  of  the  United  Provinces  to  a  leading  position  in  the  his- 
tory of  civilization.  At  the  bottom  of  the  unrivalled  material 
prosperity  was  the  world-wide  trade  of  the  cities  lining  the 
coast.  It  was  particularly  extensive  with  the  East  Indies, 
and  here  were  developed  the  most  permanent  and  produc- 
tive of  the  Dutch  colonies,  although  there  were  others 
planted  in  Asia,  Africa,  and  America.  The  city  of  Amster- 
dam, in  the  province  of  Holland,  was  the  heart  of  the  vast 
Dutch  trade,  and,  much  like  London  to-day,  performed  the 
banking  business  and  controlled  the  ''aoney  market  of  the 
entire  world. 

It  was  a  tragical  fate  that  awaited  the  southern  prov- 
inces, which  had  remained  Catholic  and  had  more  or  less 
docilely  submitted  to  the  Spanish  tyranny.  They  had  to 
pay  the  inevitable  penalty  of  resigning  the  rights  with  which 
their  fathers  had  endowed  them;  henceforth  their  spirit 
was  broken.  Flanders  and  Brabant,  which  had  once  been 
celebrated  as  the  paradise  of  Europe,  fell  into  decay.    The 


A;u/  TriunipJi  of  the  Seven   United  Provinces      177 

touch  of  intolerant  Spain,  here  as  everywhere,  acted  like  a 
blight.  It  is  a  relief  to  note  that  in  one  branch  of  culture, 
at  least,  the  inhabitants  continued  to  distinguish  themselves. 
The  names  of  the  great  painters  Rubens  (d.  1640)  and 
Van  Dyck  (d.  1641)  witnessed  that  the  old  Flemish  spirit 
occasionally  stirred  in  the  tomb  where  it  had  been  laid  by 
Alva  and  Philip,  and  justified  the  hope  that  the  future  would 
perhaps  see  a  resurrection. 


CHAi^TER  IX 

THE    REFORMATION  AND   THE    CIVIL   WARS   IN   FRANCE 

References:  Johnson,  Europe  in  the  Sixteenth  Century, 
Chapter  IX.;  Wakeman,  Europe,  1598-17 15,  Chapter 
II.  (Henry  IV.),  Chapter  VI.  (Richeheu  and  the  Thirty 
Years'  V/ar),  Chapter  VII.  (Richelieu  and  Centrahza- 
tion);  KiTCHiN,  History  of  France,  Vol.  II.;  Baird, 
Rise  of  the  Huguenots;  Baird,  The  Huguenots  and 
Henry  of  Navarre;  Willert,  Henrj^  of  Navarre; 
Besant,  Coligny;  Lodge,  Richelieu;  Perkins,  Riche- 
lieu; Perkins,  France  under  Richelieu  and  Mazarin. 

Source  Readings:  Translations  and  Reprints,  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania,  Vol.  III.,  No.  3  (Death  of  Coligny, 
Edict  of  Nantes,  etc.);  Robinson,  Readings,  Vol.  II., 
Chapter  XXVIII.  (St.  Bartholomew,  Edict  of  Nantes). 

The  wars  of  We  have  already  examined  the  monarchy  of  France  with 

Spainover  ^  view  to  acquainting  ourselves  with  its  internal  position 

^^^y-  and  its  international  policy  at  the  beginning  of  the  Modern 

Period.  We  have  seen  that  the  king's  power  was  very 
extensive,  because  he  had  a  revenue  which  was  independent 
of  the  meeting  of  his  estates,  and  which  he  could  use,  if  he 
pleased,  to  keep  an  army  dependent  on  himself  alone.  En- 
couraged by  their  splendid  position,  the  kings  aspired  to 
play  a  great  role  and  attempted  to  conquer  Italy.  Charles 
VIII.  inaugurated  this  adventurous  policy  with  the  famous 
invasion  of  1494,  did  some  local  mischief,  and  retired  much 
%s  he  had  come.  He  had,  however,  accomplished  one 
thing  heavy  with  consequences;  he  had  aroused  the  jealousy 
of  Spain.     From  this  moment  began  the  struggle  between 

178 


Civil  Wars  in  France  1 79 


France  and  Spain  for  the  possession  of  Italy,  that  filled 
Europe  with  wars  and  rumors  of  wars  for  the  next  half  cen- 
tur}'.  We  have  seen  that  Charles  VIII.  was  baffled;  his 
successor,  Louis  XII.,  began  auspiciously,  but  his  successes, 
too,  passed  away  like  vapor.  Francis  I.,  on  his  accession  in 
1515,  returned  once  more  to  the  assault,  occupied  Milan 
after  the  victor>-  of  Marignano,  and  held  it  for  some  years. 
But  his  history  is  a  repetition  of  the  fate  of  his  predecessors. 
Spain  would  not  hear  of  sharing  Italy  with  another  power, 
and  at  the  batde  of  Pa  via  (1525),  where  Francis  himself 
was  captured,  raised  her  banner  over  Lombardy.  Again 
and  again  Francis  renewed  the  war,  like  a  man  held  by  a 
spell;  but  he  was  no  match  for  the  steady,  ponderous  policy 
of  his  adversarv,   Charles  V.    The  Spanish  conquest  of  Victon-  in- 

-  1       1  T-i  •      J-    J    •       chnes  toward 

Italy  was  slow  but  irresistible,  and  when  Francis  died  in  spain. 
1547  it  looked  like  an  accomplished  fact.  AVearisome  and 
apparently  unprofitable  as  the  long  conflict  with  Charles  V. 
was,  it  had  one  feature  redounding  to  the  French  king's 
honor,  for  without  the  stubborn  fight  made  by  Francis, 
Europe  might  have  fallen  under  the  dominion  of  the  power- 
ful emperor.  However  complete  his  victories  in  Italy  and 
the  Netherlands  were,  Charles  discovered  that  the  resistance 
to  him  stiffened  the  moment  he  entered  French  territory. 
France  and  its  king  were  capable  of  sudden  heroism  when  it 
was  a  question  of  maintaining  the  integrity  of  the  nation, 
and  by  vigorously  upholding  France  they  indirectly  saved 
all  Europe  from  subjection. 

Of  equal  importance  with  the  Italian  wars  is  the  question  Attitude  of 

^  ^  .  1      1      •  1  •         Francis  toward 

of  the  Reformation  and  the  course  it  took  during  the  reign  the  Reforma- 
of  Francis.  Naturally,  France  could  not  avoid  being  af- 
fected by  so  universal  a  movement,  and,  naturally,  the  at- 
titude toward  it  of  a  king  so  nearly  absolute  was  of  the 
highest  consequence  to  its  progress.  Francis  was  a  product 
of  that  worldlier  Renaissance  which  arrived  at  its  best  ex- 


tion. 


i8o  The  Reformation 

pression  in  Italy  in  a  brilliant  reign  of  art  and  letters.  For 
the  more  austere  side  of  the  movement  which  found  vent, 
especially  in  the  north,  in  the  desire  for  a  nobler  religious 
life,  he  had  little  understanding.  His  early  plunge  into 
Italian  life  emphasized  his  natural  bent.  What  he  saw  in 
the  peninsula  fascinated  him,  the  social  refinement,  the 
luxury  of  dress  and  dwelling,  the  literature  and  art.  He 
cultivated  the  friendship  of  the  great  painters — Leonardo 
da  Vinci,  Michael  Angelo,  Titian,  Andrea  del  Sarto — and 
rejoiced  not  a  little  when  he  succeeded  in  carrying  some  of 
them  away  to  his  own  France.  Occupied  with  such  interests, 
religious  and  dogmatic  quarrels  were  not  likely  to  touch  him 
very  closely,  and  he  would  incline  on  the  whole  to  let  them 
alone.  This  course  the  king  pursued  until  he  made  the 
disconcerting  discovery  that  the  religious  agitations  had  a 
political  side  and  were  involving  him  in  difficulties  with  the 
Pope  and  the  rigid  Catholic  element  of  his  people.  Then 
he  struck  at  the  reformers,  not  from  religious  enthusiasm, 
it  will  be  observed,  but  from  what  he  set  down  as  reasons  of 
state. 
Humanism  The  Reformation  in  France,  as  everywhere  else,  started 

re  orm.  fi-Qm  small  beginnings.  Humanism  had  spread  a  vague 
longing  for  the  reform  of  life  in  state  and  Church,  and  at  the 
opening  of  the  sixteenth  century  certain  select  spirits  began 
definitely  to  formulate  their  protest  against  existing  condi- 
tions. The  leader  in  the  humanistic  circle  was  Jacques 
Lefevre.  As  early  as  15 12  he  translated  St.  Paul's  Epistles, 
deriving  from  them  that  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith 
which  under  the  strong  championship  of  Luther  became 
the  very  cornerstone  of  Protestantism.  "\Mien  one  of  Le- 
fevre's  pupils  became  bishop  of  Meaux,  he  summoned  his 
old  master  and  other  kindred  spirits  about  him,  and  with 
their  help  made  the  town  of  INleaux  the  centre  of  the  new 
religious  spirit  and  the  diocese  of  ISIeaux  its  seed-bed.    WTien 


And  the  Civil   Wars  ifi  France  l8i 

Luther's  writings  began  to  appear,  tlic  circle  at  Meaux  was 
far  from  receiving  them  unconditionally,  but  was  in  general 
not  displeased  at  the  assault  made  upon  the  stolid  self- 
satisfaction  of  Rome.  Daily  the  partisans  of  reform  grew, 
especially,  it  would  seem,  among  the  artisan  class.  But  that 
the  upper  class  was  not  left  entirely  unaffected  is  proved  by  Queen  Ma*- 
the  case  of  Queen  Margaret  of  Navarre,  the  sister  of  Francis  Navan-e. 
I.,  who,  although  she  never  formally  separated  from  the  old 
Church,  became  the  friend  and  patron  of  the  men  w'ho 
propagated  the  new  ideas.  Her  attitude,  vacillating  between 
the  old  and  the  new,  but  not  definitely  committed  to  either, 
is  typical  of  many  people  in  France  during  the  next  genera- 
tion. 

From  the  first  the  theological  faculty  of  the  University  of  Orthodoxy 
Paris,  which  was  known  under  the  name  Sorbonne,  and  the'^Sorbonne. 
which  had  enjoyed  an  immense  reputation  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  undertook  to  combat  the  movement  of  reform  in 
France.  The  learned  doctors  prided  themselves  on  their 
orthodoxy  and  raised  a  great  outcry  over  the  spread  of 
heretical  ideas.  Nevertheless,  their  opposition  was  not 
likely  to  count  for  much,  unless  they  could  make  the  king 
act  in  their  interest.  That  proved  difficult,  owing  to  the 
tolerance  of  Francis,  until  the  disastrous  battle  of  Pavia 
(1525)  made  him  a  prisoner  and  reduced  the  country  to 
serious  straits.  The  mother  of  Francis,  Louise  of  Savoy, 
who  acted  as  regent  during  his  captivity,  was  ready  to  go 
down  on  her  knees  for  help  to  almost  anybody,  and  when  she 
discovered  that  she  could  have  the  support  of  the  Catholic 
clergy  only  at  the  cost  of  persecution,  she  consented.  Francis 
on  his  return  from  Madrid  quashed  the  heretical  proceed- 
ings for  a  while,  but  as  his  need  of  ecclesiastical  support 
continued,  he  saw  himself  obliged  before  long  to  return  Francis  be- 
to  the  policy  of  repression.  It  was  in  one  of  these  periods  secutor!^'^' 
of  persecution,   in    1533,   that   there   was   banished  from 


I82 


The  ReformaiioJt 


TheWalden- 
sian  Massacre, 
1545- 


The  persecu- 
tion of  Henr}' 
II. 


Persecution 
in  hands  of 
the  regular 
courts  of  law. 


France  a  young  man  who  was  destined  to  make  the  world 
resound  with  his  name — John  Calvin.  In  this  way,  urged 
on  by  the  Pope,  whose  alliance  he  needed,  or  by  the 
Church  of  France,  whose  money  and  influence  were  essen- 
tial to  his  plans,  he  drifted  into  a  policy  of  persecution. 
Before  he  died  his  measures  had  acquired  a  severity  that 
might  have  won  the  applause  of  Loyola  and  his  newly  formed 
order  of  Jesuits.  The  climax  was  reached  in  the  famous 
Waldensian  Massacre.  The  Waldenses  were  a  simple  and 
thrifty  peasant  people,  who  dwelt  among  the  western  Alps, 
and  who,  because  they  were  half-forgotten  in  their  remote 
valleys,  had  remained  in  undisturbed  possession  of  certain 
doctrines  spread  by  one  Peter  Waldo  back  in  the  twelfth 
century  and  condemned  as  heretical.  The  Roman  intoler- 
ance of  the  sixteenth  century  found  them  out,  and  the  king, 
yielding  at  last  to  the  long-continued  pressiure,  signed  the 
order  for  their  extermination.  In  1545  the  snow-capped 
mountains  of  the  Alps  witnessed  a  terrible  scene.  Three 
thousand  helpless  souls  were  massacred,  hundreds  were 
dragged  from  their  homes  to  wear  out  their  lives  in  the 
galleys,  and  many  other  hundreds  were  driven  into  exile. 

Francis  was  succeeded  by  Henry  II.  (1547-59)  who  had 
little  in  common  with  his  courtly,  affable,  and  somewhat 
frivolous  predecessor.  If  Francis  persecuted  from  political 
necessity,  Henr}'  did  so  from  deliberate  preference.  He  had 
a  sombre  streak  in  his  character,  indicative  of  the  shadow 
which  the  approaching  Catholic  reaction  was  casting  before. 
On  the  day  of  his  coronation  he  said  to  a  high  French  prel- 
ate that  he  would  make  it  a  point  of  honor  to  exterminate 
from  his  kingdom  all  whom  the  Church  denounced.  This 
promise  he  took  seriously,  laboring  without  rest  to  uproot 
heresy  from  his  realm.  He  even  had  the  desire  to  establish 
the  Inquisition  with  its  vigorous  machinery  of  courts,  prisons, 
and  police.    But  here  he  met  with  opposition  from  the  Parlia- 


And  the  Civil  Wars  in  France  183 

ments.  Heresy  had  hitherto  belonged  to  their  jurisdiction, 
and  they  did  not  care  to  have  their  power  cHpped  for  the 
advantage  of  the  clergy.  Therefore  the  Inquisition,  techni- 
cally speaking,  never  was  admitted  into  France;  but  the 
Parliaments,  urged  on  by  the  zealous  king,  did  such  cruel 
work  in  condemning  Protestants  to  death  and  confiscating 
the  property  of  suspected  persons,  that  it  is  hard  to  see  how 
che  Inquisition  could  have  done  more.  But  cruelty  was  of  no 
avail.  Protestant  opinions  continued  to  circulate,  spreading 
chiefly  from  Geneva,  where  the  exiled  Calvin  had  by  this 
time  established  his  Reformed  Church,  and  before  Henry 
died  several  dozen  congregations  had  sprung  into  existence, 
which,  like  the  early  Christians,  conducted  forbidden  wor- 
ship in  garrets  and  cellars  in  the  perpetual  shadow  of  an- 
nihilation. 

If  Henry  was  largely  occupied  with  the  persecution  of   Henry  and 
the  Protestants,  who  stubbornly  refused  to  be  exterminated,    ^jth Spain, 
he  did  not,  therefore,  neglect  the  foreign  interests  of  France. 
As  the  heir  of  his  predecessors  he  found  himself  involved  in 
a  sharp  rivalry  with  Spain.     The  chief  object  of  that  rivalry 
had  been  Italy,  and  the  matter,  when  brought  to  the  issue  of 
arms,  had  been  decided  again  and  again  in  favor  of  Spain. 
At  the  time  of  Henry's  accession  Italy  was  seemingly  secure 
in  the  hands  of  the  victor,  but  that  did  not  keep  Henry,  with 
a  resolution  more  bold  than  discreet,  from  challenging  the 
fact.      That  he  gained  no  more  than  his  predecessors  we 
have  seen  in  Chapter  VI,  for  he  was  obliged  to  sign  with 
Spain  the  Peace  of  Cateau-Cambresis  (1559),  which  was 
in  substance  a  complete  renunciation  of  the  claims  of  his 
house  to  a  position  in  Italy.     But  the  Spanish  wars  of  Hen- 
ry's time  were,  nevertheless,  not  so  entirely  unprofitable  for 
France  as  the  long  struggle  of  his  father  had  been.     When   Territonal 
in  1552  the  German  Protestants,  inspired  and  led  by  Maurice   Henry?^*" 
of  Saxony,  rose  against  Charles  V.,  Henry  II.,  in  return  for 


1 84 


Tlie  Reformation 


Henry  gives 
French  am- 
bition a  new 
direction. 


Death  of 
Henry,  1559. 


his  alliance  with  the  princes,  was  permitted  to  occupy  the 
three  border  bishoprics  of  the  empire,  Metz,  Toul,  and 
Verdun;  and  when  in  1557  and  1558  Phihp  II.  defeated  the 
French  at  St.  Quentin  and  Gravelines,  the  duke  of  Guise 
retaliated  by  suddenly  pouncing  upon  and  seizing  from  the 
English,  who  were  the  allies  of  Philip,  the  port  of  Calais. 
The  sum  of  Henry's  wars  is  that  by  the  Treaty  of  Cateau- 
Cambresis  the  French  definitely  abandoned  Italy,  but 
adopted  in  its  place,  as  is  shown  by  the  acquisition  of  the 
three  bishoprics  and  of  Calais,  a  policy  of  expansion  upon 
their  eastern  and  northern  frontier.  This  was  a  much  more 
natural  ambition  for  the  sovereign  of  a  country  situated  like 
France,  and  set  a  precedent  which  had  an  important  efifect 
on  Henry's  successors.  With  his  death  the  kingdom  fell  for 
a  while  into  an  eclipse  through  civil  dissensions,  but  when  it 
recovered,  it  undertook  to  push  out  its  border  to  the  east 
and  north.  In  consequence  of  this  diversion  of  French 
ambition  the  rivalry  with  Spain  tended  to  fall  into  abeyance, 
and  in  its  place  arose  the  rivalry  with  the  country  most 
directly  threatened  by  the  change  of  direction  in  the  French 
advance — Germany. 

WTien  Henry  signed  the  Treaty  of  Cateau-Cambresis,  it 
was  with  the  clear  consciousness  that  it  was  necessar}^  for  all 
foreign  wars  to  cease  until  the  matter  which  was  every  day 
becoming  more  pressing  and  more  baffling,  namely,  the 
spread  of  Protestant  opinion,  had  been  attended  to.  In 
league  with  Philip  he  designed  to  extirpate  heresy,  root  and 
branch.  The  new  alliance  was  signalized  by  the  marriage 
of  his  daughter  Elizabeth  to  the  Spanish  king.  At  a  tour- 
nament which  was  a  feature  of  the  prolonged  celebration, 
Henry  rode  into  the  lists  against  the  captain  of  his  guard. 
A  chance  splinter  from  his  antagonist's  lance  entered  his 
eye,  and  he  died  before  he  could  realize  his  dream  of  purging 
his  realm  of  the  Protestant  infection. 


And  the  Civil  Wars  in  France  18; 


Until  this  time  the  Protestants  of  France  had  suffered   Protestantism 

,  .  makes  a  tight 

their  persecutions  m  patience.  But  now  the  time  came  for  its  lift. 
when  they  organized  themselves  more  perfectly  and  offered 
resistance  to  their  oppressors.  This  was  no  more  than  hap- 
pened everywhere,  for  the  intolerance  of  the  dominant  relig- 
ion looked  upon  every  rival  faith  as  wrong  and  pernicious, 
and  hence  insisted  on  its  suppression,  if  necessary,  by  the 
sword.  The  result  of  Protestant  resistance  was  a  long  civil 
war,  in  which  became  involved  other  issues  besides  the  in- 
itial one  of  religion.  The  reader  will  recall  a  similar  confu- 
sion of  issues  in  Germany  and  England.  When  in  1546 
civil  war  broke  out  between  the  German  Protestants  and 
the  emperor,  Maurice  of  Saxony  used  the  opportunity  to 
advance  his  own  fortunes  in  the  world;  and  when  in  1553 
Edward  VI.  died,  the  duke  of  Northumberland,  on  the 
plea  of  religion,  tried  to  put  his  own  daughter-in-law,  the 
Lady  Jane  Grey,  upon  the  English  throne.  The  inference 
to  be  drawn  from  these  examples  is  that  many  mean,  sor- 
did, and  personal  interests  are  likely  to  intrude  themselves 
into  every  religious  struggle  in  order  to  fight  for  their  own 
ends  under  the  mask  of  religion.  We  shall  presently  meet 
this  deplorable  mixture  of  religious  and  selfish  motives  in 
the  civil  wars  of  France. 

At  the  death  of  Henry,  his  son  Francis,  who  was  but  Francis  II. 
sixteen  years  old,  and  physically  and  mentally  feeble,  suc- 
teeded  to  the  throne.  When  the  power  in  an  absolute 
monarchy  such  as  France  practically  was  at  this  time  is 
not  exercised  by  the  sovereign,  it  is  inevitably  seized  by 
some  ambitious  man  or  faction.  The  conditions  in  the 
court  which  surrounded  the  boy  king  have  therefore  an  un- 
usual interest. 

The  wife  of  the  feeble  Francis  was  a  queen  in  her  own  Queen  Mary 
.,,.-  ,^,,.11  1  r         ^       \.      and  the  Guises 

nght,  Mary  of  Scotland.     Although  a  woman  of  parts,  she 

was  of  her  husband's  age  and  too  inexperienced  to  assume 


1 86 


The  Reformation 


control  in  his  name.  Her  presence  on  the  tlirone,  however, 
offered  an  opportunity  for  the  ambition  of  her  two  uncles, 
brothers  of  her  mother  and  heads  of  the  great  House  of 
Guise.  The  older  was  Francis,  duke  of  Guise;  the  younger 
was  a  churchman.  Cardinal  Lorraine.  They  seized  the  reins, 
and  because  they  were  ardent  Catholics  continued  Henry 
II. 's  policy  of  Protestant  persecution. 

The  Bourbons.  There  were  those,  however,  who  looked  with  jealousy 
upon  the  rule  of  the  Guises  and  called  it  usurpation.  They 
were  the  princes  of  the  House  of  Bourbon,  a  younger  branch 
of  the  royal  family.  The  head  of  the  house  was  sovereign 
of  what  was  left  of  the  kingdom  of  Navarre  in  the  Pyrenees 
and  was  known  as  King  Anthony.  The  younger  was  Louis, 
prince  of  Conde.  They  contended  that,  as  princes  of  the 
blood  royal,  they  had  a  better  right  to  rule  for  the  feeble  king 
than  the  family  of  Guise,  and  naturally  everybody  at  court 
who  had  a  grudge  against  the  Guises  came  to  their  support. 
Thus  the  Bourbon  princes  headed  a  party  of  "malcon- 
tents," who  were  ready  to  seize  every  opportunity  to  rid 
themselves  of  their  rivals.  In  casting  about  they  could  not 
but  observe  that  the  Guises  were  also  hated  by  the  Protes- 
tants whom  they  persecuted.  Out  of  this  common  enmity 
there  soon  grew  an  intimacy  and  an  alliance.  Anthony  in 
a  faithless,  vacillating  manner,  Conde  more  firmly,  accepted 
the  Reformed  faith,  and  many  of  the  "malcontents" — high- 
placed  courtiers  and  noblemen  for  the  most  part — following 
their  example,  it  came  to  pass  that  French  Protestantism 
became  inextricably  involved  with  political  intrigue.  It  was 
at  this  period  that  the  party  name  of  Huguenots,  a  term  of 
uncertain  and  disputed  origin,  was  fixed  upon  the  French 
Protestants.^ 

Catherine  de'  Between  the  rival  court  factions  of  Bourbon  and  Guise, 

Medici,  the 

'         *  The  most  probable  hypothesis  is  that  Huguenot  is  a  corruption  of  the 
German  word  Eidgenosseti,  a  name  applied  to  the  Swiss  Confederation. 


Alliance  of 
Bourbons  and 
Protestants. 


And  the  Civil  Wars  in  France  187 

and  belonging  to  neither,  stood  a  person  not  highly  regarded 
at  first,  but  destined  to  become  famous — Catherine  de'  Me- 
dici. She  was  a  Florentine  princess,  widow  of  Henry  II. 
and  mother  of  the  young  king.  Protestant  contemporaries 
came  to  look  upon  her  as  an  incarnate  fiend,  but  one  of  her 
chief  antagonists,  who  afterward  became  King  Henry  IV.  of 
France,  judged  her  more  leniently  and  correctly.  He  once 
silenced  an  over-harsh  critic  by  asking  what  was  she  to  do, 
an  anxious  mother,  torn  hither  and  thither  by  the  fiercest 
of  party  feuds,  and  with  no  adviser  on  whom  she  could  rely. 
In  this  apology  of  the  great  king  lies  probably  the  key  to 
Catherine's  career.  She  was,  above  all,  a  mother,  mother 
of  royal  children,  for  whom  she  desired  to  preserve  the 
throne  of  France.  Doubtless,  too,  after  she  had  once  tasted 
the  sweets  of  power,  she  clung  to  them  with  selfish  tenacity 
as  men  and  women  will.  Armed  only  with  her  woman's  wit 
she  plunged  into  the  conflict  of  parties,  and  like  other  rulers 
of  her  time  intrigued,  bribed,  and  prevaricated  to  keep  her- 
self afloat.  Thus  she  might  even  lay  claim  to  our  regard  if 
her  shifty  policy  had  not  involved  her  in  one  act  which  must 
forever  smirch  her  name.  We  shall  see  that  she  was  largely 
responsible  for  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew. 

Out  of  these   factions  around  the  throne  grew  the   in-  The  Troubles 
trigues  which  led  to  the  long  religious  wars  in  France.    It      ^'"' 
is  needless  to  try  to  put  the  blame  for  them  on  one  or  the 
other  side.     Given  a  weakened  royal  executive,   the  im- 
placable religious  temper  which  marks  the  society  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  and  a  horde  of  powerful,  turbulent,  and 
greedy  nobles,  and  civil  war  is  a  necessary  consequence.     We 
can  notice  only  the  more  prominent  symptoms  of  the  coming 
outbreak.     The  path  of  the  Guises  was  beset  with  con-   Conspiracy  of 
spiracies,  instigated  or  connived  at  by  the  Bourbon  princes.      "^  oise,  15 
But  they  managed  to  keep  the  upper  hand.     On  one  occa- 
sion, at  Amboise  in  1560,  they  took  a  direful  vengeance  upon 


1 88 


The  Reformation 


Death  of 
Francis,  De- 
cember, 1560. 


Catherine  in 
control. 


Catherine  re- 
solves on 
toleration. 


The  Massacre 
of  Vassy,  1562. 


their  adversaries,  the  Huguenots  and  "malcontents,"  by 
hanging  groups  of  them  to  the  battlements  of  the  king's 
castle  at  Amboise  and  drowning  others  in  the  Loire. 

But  their  downfall  was  at  hand.  In  December,  1560,  the 
boy  king  Francis  died,  and  his  widow  Mary,  finding  her  role 
in  France  exhausted,  prepared  to  leave  for  Scotland.  Thus 
the  props  upon  which  the  power  of  the  Guises  depended 
broke  under  them.  The  successor  of  Francis  was  his 
brother  Charles  IX.,  a  weakling  and  a  minor,  who  was  but 
ten  years  old.  King  Anthony  of  Navarre,  as  nearest  of  kin, 
might  have  put  forward  a  claim  to  the  regency,  but  peevishly 
yielded  the  honor  to  the  queen-mother.  Catherine,  there- 
fore, for  the  first  time  held  the  reins  of  power.  Desirous, 
above  all,  of  maintaining  her  son's  authority,  and  filled  with 
the  sense  of  the  difficulty  of  her  position  between  Guise  and 
Bourbon,  she  hit  upon  a  policy  of  balance  and  moderation, 
called  representatives  of  both  hostile  factions  into  her  council, 
and  published  an  Edict  of  Toleration,  the  first  issued  in 
France,  granting  to  the  Huguenots  a  limited  right  of  worship. 
Here  was  a  decided  change  of  policy,  exhibiting  Catherine 
in  the  light  of  a  promoter  of  the  cause  of  religious  liberty. 
But  her  good  intentions  came  to  naught,  were  bound  to 
come  to  naught  among  men  who,  like  the  Protestants  and 
Catholics  of  the  sixteenth  century,  were  passionately  set  on 
realizing  their  own  religious  system  without  the  abatement 
of  one  jot  or  tittle.  While  the  Catholics  were  imbittered 
by  the  extent  of  Catherine's  concessions,  the  Protestants 
grumbled  at  the  remaining  limitations,  and  among  the  more 
fanatical  followers  of  the  two  parties,  sometimes  without 
provocation,  there  occurred  sharp  conflicts,  frequently  end- 
ing in  terrible  excesses. 

One  of  these  conflicts,  the  Massacre  of  Vassy  (1562),  put 
an  end  to  hesitation  and  led  to  war.  The  duke  of  Guise 
was  passing  through  the  country  with  a  company  of  armed 


And  the  Civil  Wars  in  France  189 

retainers,  when  he  happened,  at  Vassy,  upon  a  group  of 
Huguenots,  assembled  in  a  barn  for  worship.  Sharp  words 
led  to  an  encounter,  and  before  the  duke  rode  away  sixty 
persons  lay  dead  upon  the  ground  and  more  than  two  hun- 
dred had  been  wounded.  Fierce  indignation  seized  the 
Protestants  throughout  France,  and  when  the  duke  of  Guise 
was  received  by  the  Catholics  of  Paris  like  a  hero  returning 
from  successful  war,  and  Catherine  declared  herself  unable 
to  call  him  to  account,  Conde  issued  an  appeal  and  took  the 
field. 

Thus  were  inaugurated  the  religious  wars  of  France,  Character  of 
which  were  not  brought  to  a  conclusion  until  1598,  by  the  ^^^• 
Edict  of  Nantes,  and  which  in  their  consequences  contin- 
ued to  trouble  the  country  well  into  the  next  century.  For 
our  purpose  it  is  sufficient  to  look  upon  the  period  from 
1562  to  1598  as  one  war,  though  it  is  true  that  there  were 
frequent  suspensions  of  arms,  supporting  themselves  upon 
sham  truces  and  dishonest  treaties. ^  The  war,  hke  all  the 
religious  wars  of  the  century,  was  waged  with  inhuman 
barbarity,  and  conflagration,  pillage,  massacre,  and  assas- 
sination blot  every  stage  of  its  progress.  Protestants  and 
Catholics  alike  became  brutes,  and  vied  with  each  other 
in  their  efforts  to  turn  their  country  into  a  desert. 

When  the  Treaty  of  St.  Germain  (1570),  granting  the  The  Peace  of 
Protestants  the  largest  toleration  which  they  had  yet  en-  ''  ^''°^^"* 
joyed,  temporarily  closed  the  chapter  of  conflicts,  many  of 
the  original  leaders  had  passed  away.  King  Anthony  of 
Navarre  had  been  killed  in  battle  against  his  former  friends, 
the  Huguenots,  whom  he  had  basely  deserted  (1562);  the 
duke  of  Guise  had  been  assassinated  (1563);  and  Conde 


1  Eight  wars  have  been  distinguished  as  follows:  First  war,  1562-63; 
second  war,  1567-68;  third  war,  1568-70  (ended  by  the  Peace  of  St.  Ger- 
main); fourth  war,  1572-73;  fifth  war,  1574-76;  sixth  war,  1577;  seventh 
war,  1579-80;  eighth  war  (called  the  War  of  the  Three  Henries),  1585-89, 
which  continued  in  another  form  until  the  Edict  of  Nantes  (159S). 


ipo 


The  Reforvtation 


Admiral 
Coligny. 


Effort  at  peace 
after  St.  Ger- 
main, 1570. 


Marriage  of 
Henry  and 
Margaret. 


had  been  treacherously  slain  in  a  charge  of  horse  (1569). 
The  head  of  the  Huguenot  party  was  now  Anthony's  young 
son,  King  Henry  of  Navarre,  but  the  intellectual  leadership 
fell,  for  the  present,  upon  Gaspard  de  Coligny. 

The  new  leader  deserves  a  word  in  passing,  for  he  was 
one  of  the  few  high-born  "  malcontents,"  who  entered  the 
Protestant  ranks  for  other  reasons  than  political  rancor,  and 
who,  while  fighting  with  conviction  for  the  religion  he  pre- 
ferred, never  forgot,  in  the  wild  broils  of  partisanship,  that 
he  was  a  Frenchman  and  owed  a  duty  to  his  countr}'.  He 
belonged  to  the  great  family  of  Chatillon,  was  allied  through 
his  mother  with  the  family  of  Montmorency,  and  without 
going  to  sea  held,  anomalously  enough,  the  honorary  post 
of  Admiral  of  France.  Take  him  for  all  in  all,  he  was 
the  most  honorable  and  attractive  character  of  his  time. 

Meanwhile,  a  moderate  party  had  been  formed  in  France, 
which  tried  to  make  the  Peace  of  St.  Germain  the  beginning 
of  a  definite  settlement.  It  was  only  too  clear  that  the  blood- 
shed, which  was  draining  the  country  of  its  strength,  ruined 
both  parties  and  brought  profit  to  none  except  the  enemies 
of  France.  The  more  temperate  of  both  sides,  Coligny 
prominent  among  them,  began  to  see  the  folly  of  the  struggle, 
and  King  Charles  himself,  who  was  now  of  age  and  had 
replaced  the  Regent  Catherine,  inclined  to  this  view.  And 
yet  such  were  the  mutual  suspicions  and  animosities  thaf 
the  effort  to  remove  all  cause  of  quarrel  precipitated  the 
most  horrible  of  all  the  incidents  of  the  war,  the  Massacre 
of  St.  Bartholomew. 

After  the  Peace  of  St.  Germain,  Coligny  had  come  up  to 
Paris  and  had  rapidly  acquired  great  influence  with  the  king. 
The  young  monarch  seemed  to  be  agreed  to  put  an  end  foi 
all  time  to  internal  dissension,  enforce  strictly  the  terms  oi 
the  new  peace  with  its  provision  of  a  limited  right  of  worship 
for  the  Protestants,  and  turn  the  strength  of  the  united 


And  the  Civil  Wars  in  France  191 

country  against  the  hereditary  enemy,  Spain.  For  this 
purpose  he  arranged,  as  a  preHminary  step,  a  marriage 
between  his  sister  Margaret  and  young  Henry  of  Navarre. 
Joyfully  responding  to  the  invitation  of  King  Charles,  the 
Huguenots  poured  in  swarms  into  Paris  to  attend  the 
wedding  of  their  chief,  which  was  celebrated  on  August  iS, 

1572- 

The  wedding  seemed  to  inaugurate  an  era  of  Protestant  Attempted  as 
triumphs.  Coligny's  star,  shedding  the  promise  of  tolera-  c^figny!°"° 
tion,  was  steadily  rising;  that  of  the  Guises  and  th^ir  ultra- 
Catholic  supporters,  standing  for  religious  dissension,  was 
as  steadily  setting.  Catherine  de'  Medici,  originally  hardly 
more  attached  to  the  Guises  than  to  the  Bourbons  and 
Huguenots,  because  primarily  solicitous  only  about  herself 
and  her  children,  had  lately  lost  her  influence  with  the  king. 
She  knew  well  whither  it  had  gone,  and  fixed  the  hatred  of 
a  passionate  nature  upon  Coligny.  Burning  to  regain  her 
power,  she  now  put  herself  in  communication  with  the 
Guises.  On  August  2  2d,  as  Coligny  was  leaving  the  palace 
of  the  king,  a  ball,  meant  for  his  breast,  struck  him  in  the 
arm.  Charles,  who  hurried  in  alarm  to  the  bedside  of  his 
councillor,  was  filled  with  indignation.  "Yours  the  wound, 
mine  the  sorrow,"  he  said,  and  swore  to  search  out  the 
assassin  and  his  accomplices. 

The  terror  of  discovery  and  punishment  which  now  The  Massacre 
racked  Catherine  and  the  Guises  drove  them  to  devise  some  omew. 
means  by  which  they  might  deflect  the  king's  vengeance. 
On  the  spur  of  the  moment,  as  it  were,  they  planned  the 
Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew.  This  famous  massacre  is, 
therefore,  not  to  be  considered,  as  was  once  the  custom,  the 
carefully  laid  plot  of  the  Catholic  heads  of  Europe,  but 
rather  as  the  bloodthirsty  improvisation  of  a  desperate  band. 
Catherine  de'  Medici  and  the  Guises  were  its  authors,  and 
the  fervidly  Catholic  population  of  Paris  was  the  instrument 


192  The  Reformation 

of  their  spite.  How  the  king's  consent  was  got  when  all  was 
ready  would  be  difficult  to  understand,  if  we  did  not  know 
that  he  was  weak  and  cowardly,  and  not  entirely  sound  of 
mind.  In  a  session  of  the  council,  Catherine  plied  him  with 
the  bugbear  of  a  Huguenot  plot,  until  in  an  access  of  insane 
rage  he  cried  out  that  they  should  all  be  butchered.  In  the 
early  morning  hours  of  St.  Bartholomew's  day  (August  24th) 
the  tocsin  was  sounded  from  all  the  churches  of  Paris.  At 
the  signal  the  Catholic  citizens  slipped  noiselessly  from  their 
houses,  entered  the  residences  which  had  been  previously 
designated  by  a  chalk  mark  as  the  homes  of  the  Huguenots, 
and  slaughtered  the  inmates  in  their  beds.  Coligny  was  one 
of  the  first  victims  of  the  ensuing  fury,  Henry  of  Guise  him- 
self presiding  at  the  butchery  of  his  Huguenot  rival.  That 
night  the  streets  flowed  with  blood,  and  for  many  days  after 
the  provinces,  incited  by  the  example  of  the  capital,  indulged 
in  similar  outrages.  The  grim  saying  went  the  rounds  that 
the  high  espousals  of  Navarre  must  be  given  a  tinge  of 
crimson.  The  bridegroom  himself  was  in  danger  of  assassi- 
nation, but  managed  to  save  his  life  by  temporarily  renounc- 
ing his  fpith.  The  victims  of  this  fearful  exhibition  of  fa- 
naticism amounted  to  2,000  in  Paris,  and  6,000  to  8,000  in 
the  rest  of  France.  We  can  better  understand  the  spirit  of 
the  time  when  we  hear  that  the  Catholic  world,  the  Pope 
and  Philip  of  Spain  at  its  head,  made  no  effort  to  conceal 
its  delight  at  this  easy  method  of  getting  rid  of  its  religious 
adversaries. 
Henry  III.  War,  with  all  its  dreary  incidents,  straightway  flamed  up 

again.  In  1574  Charles  IX.  died  from  natural  causes, 
though  the  Huguenots  were  pleased  to  ascribe  his  death  to 
remorse  for  his  share  in  the  great  crime  of  St.  Bartholomew. 
His  brother,  Henry  HI.,  succeeded  him  on  the  throne.  A 
new  element  of  interest  was  introduced  into  the  struggle  only 
when  the  death  of  Henry's  youngest  brother,  the  duke  of 


And  the  Civil  Wars  in  France  193 

Alenfon,  and  his  own  failure  to  have  heirs,  involved,  with 
the  religious  dispute,  the  question  of  the  succession. 

By  the  law  of  the  realm  the  crown  would  have  to  pass  The  question 
\ipon  Henry's  death  to  the  nearest  male  relative,  who  was  gjo^  ^  succes- 
Henry  of  Navarre,  head  of  the  collateral  branch  of  Bourbon. 
But  Henry  was  a  Huguenot,  the  enemy  of  the  faith  of  the 
vast  majority  of  his  future  subjects.  When  his  succession 
became  probable,  Henry  of  Guise  and  his  followers  formed 
the  Holy  League,  which  pledged  itself  to  maintain  the  inter- 
est of  the  Roman  Church  at  all  hazards  and  never  permit  a 
heretic  to  sit  on  the  throne  of  France.  While  the  Catholics  League  and 
were  forming  a  partisan  organization  regardless  of  their  "g^enoti. 
obligation  to  their  country,  the  Huguenots  showed  a  spirit 
no  less  narro\\^  and  sectarian.  They  planned  to  form  them- 
selves into  a  federal  republic,  practically  independent  of  the 
kingdom  of  France.  It  was  plain  that  party  was  becoming 
more  and  more,  country  less  and  less,  and  that  the  outcome 
of  the  wasteful  civil  strife  would  be  the  ruin  and  disruption 
of  France.  In  consequence  of  these  developments  the  king 
found  himself  in  evil  straits.  As  head  of  the  state  he  was 
pledged  to  the  interests  of  the  country  and  was  inclined  to 
pursue  a  policy  of  reconciliation  and  peace.  But  the  League 
and  the  Huguenots  would  have  no  peace  except  on  their  own 
terms,  and  the  king,  trying  to  hold  his  course  between  Scylla 
and  Charybdis,  was  deserted  by  all  except  the  handful  of 
men  who  refused  to  share  in  the  madness  of  partisan  fury. 
In  the  new  turn  of  the  civil  struggle  three  parties,  each 
championed  by  a  leader  of  the  name  of  Henry,  disputed  the 
control  of  France. 

The  new  war,  called  the  War  of  the  Three  Henries  (1585-  War  of  the 
89),  steeped  the  country  in  such  confusion  that  men  soon 
indulged  in  every  form  of  lawlessness  without  punishment. 
King  Henry,  an  effeminate  dandy  with  a  fondness  for  lap- 
dogs  and  ear-rings,  had  gone  to  all  lengths  in  order  to  main- 


t94 


The  Reformation 


Murder  of 
Henry  of 
Guise,  1588. 


Murder  of 
Henry  III., 
1589. 


Accession  of 
Henry  IV. 


tain  his  authority,  and  had  practically  resigned  the  real 
power  into  the  hands  of  the  head  of  the  League;  but  at 
last,  in  December,  1588,  he  indignantly  resolved  to  put  an 
end  to  his  humiliation.  He  invited  Henry  of  Guise  to  his 
cabinet,  and  there  had  him  treacherously  despatched  by  his 
guard.  Cowardice  and  rancor  could  go  no  further,  and  the 
League  turned  in  horror  from  the  murderer,  Paris  and 
Catholic  France  declaring  for  his  deposition.  In  his  despair 
the  king  fled  to  Henry  of  Navarre,  and  was  advancing  with 
his  Huguenot  subjects  upon  his  capital,  when  a  fanatical 
Dominican  monk  forced  admission  to  his  presence  and  killed 
him  with  a  knife  (August,  1589).  With  him  the  House  of 
Valois  came  to  an  end.  The  question  was  now  simply  be- 
tween Henry  of  Navarre,  the  rightful  claimant  to  the  crown, 
and  the  League,  which  would  have  none  of  him. 

The  new  Henry,  Henry  IV.,  first  king  of  the  Hou^  of 
Bourbon,  was  a  brave  soldier,  an  intelligent  ruler,  and  a 
courtly  gentleman.  He  had  his  faults,  springing  from  a  gay, 
mercurial  temperament,  but  intensely  human  as  they  were, 
they  actually  contributed  to  his  popularity.  He  was  con- 
fronted on  his  accession  by  the  disconcerting  fact  that  his 
followers  were  only  a  small  part  of  France.  The  attachment 
of  the  Catholic  majority  he  knew  could  only  be  won  slowly, 
and  force,  he  suspected  from  the  first,  would  be  of  no  avail. 
Therefore,  he  undertook  patiently  to  assure  the  Catholics  of 
the  loyalty  of  his  intentions  and  win  their  recognition.  If 
the  League  could  only  have  found  a  plausible  rival  for  the 
throne,  Henry  might  have  been  annihilated;  but  his  claim 
was  incontrovertible,  and  that  was  his  strength.  For  the 
present  no  one  thought  of  disarming.  Henry  won  a  number 
of  engagements,  notably  the  battle  of  Ivry  (1590),  but  the 
League,  still  managed  by  the  Guise  faction  in  the  person  of 
Henry  of  Guise's  younger  brother,  and  supported  by  Philip 
of  Spain,  could  not  be  scattered. 


And  the  Civil  Wars  iti  France  195 

For  four  years  Henry  waited  for  his  subjects  to  come  over  The  conver- 
to  his  side;  then  he  took  a  decisive  step  and  went  over  to  ^'°"  °  ^""^ 
theirs.  The  misery  of  his  countrymen,  racked  by  the  end- 
less civil  struggle,  wrenched  his  heart;  also  he  was  in  con- 
stant alarm  lest  the  League  or  Philip  II.,  or  both  in  agree- 
ment, should  impose  on  France  an  elected  sovereign  in  his 
stead.  In  July,  1593,  he  solemnly  abjured  his  faith,  and 
was  readmitted  into  the  communion  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  The  effect  was  almost  magical.  He  was  recog- 
nized throughout  France,  the  League  fell  apart,  the  king  of 
Spain  was  deserted  by  his  French  partisans,  and  the  war 
ceased.  In  February,  1594,  he  could  proceed  with  his  cor- 
onation at  Chartres,  and  when  a  month  later  he  approached 
Paris  the  gates  were  thrown  open  and  he  was  received  like 
a  hero  and  a  saviour  by  those  same  Parisians  who  in  the 
period  of  his  apostacy  from  the  Church  had  spewed  him  out 
of  their  mouths. 

Henry's  conversion  fiercely  excited  contemporary  opinion.  Justified  or 
By  uncompromising  Huguenots,  by  many  Protestants  the  "°'' 
world  over,  the  act  was  denounced  as  nothing  less  than  trea- 
son. But  by  modern  historians,  whose  judgment  is  far  less 
affected  by  allegiance  to  a  particular  dogma,  the  conversion 
is  regarded  more  leniently.  In  so  far  as  we  are  inclined  to 
admit  that  attachment  to  one's  country  is  as  lofty,  if  not  a 
loftier  consideration  than  attachment  to  one's  Church,  we 
have  praise  rather  than  blame  for  the  patriot  king.  But 
even  our  altered  standards  of  conduct  do  not  excuse  Henry 
for  taking  his  change  of  sides  so  lightly.  He  disposed  of 
his  conversion  with  a  smile  and  an  epigram.  Paris  is  well 
worth  a  Mass,  he  said  to  the  circle  of  his  courtiers.  The 
sentiment  confirms  the  earlier  statement  that  we  have  in 
him  a  gay,  sensuous  cavalier,  constitutioHally  incapable  of 
being  very  serious  about  the  great  matter  of  religion,  which 
occupied  all  the  profounder  spirits  of  the  age.     But  his  con- 


196  Tlie  Reformation 


stitutional  unfitness  for  religious  passion  redounded,  as  in 
the  case  of  Elizabeth  of  England,  to  the  advantage  of  his 
country.  He  could  practise  a  genuine  tolerance,  and  could 
undertake,  on  the  basis  of  it,  to  carry  through  a  solution  of 
the  religious  conflict. 
The  Edict  of  The  document  in  which  Henry  tried  to  arrange  for  the 

Nantes,  1598.  peaceful  living  side  by  side  of  Huguenots  and  Catholics  is 
known,  from  the  town  in  which  the  king  affixed  his  signa- 
ture,  as  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  It  bears  the  date  of  April  13, 
1598,  and  falls  naturally  into  the  three  sections  of  religious 
rights,  civil  rights,  and  political  rights.  Under  the  head  o{ 
religious  rights  we  note  that  Protestant  worship  was  author^ 
ized  in  two  places  in  each  bailiwick  of  France,  as  well  as  in 
the  castles  of  noblemen.  As  a  concession  to  the  fanaticism 
of  the  day,  the  reformed  service  was  expressly  forbidden  at 
Paris  and  at  the  royal  court.  In  the  matter  of  civil  rights,  a 
Huguenot  was  recognized  as  a  full-fledged  Frenchman,  who 
was  protected  by  the  law  wherever  he  went,  and  was  eligible 
to  any  office.  So  far  the  settlement  of  Nantes  was  con- 
ceived  in  the  modern  spirit,  and  was  far  ahead  of  any  solution 
The  political  found  in  any  other  country.  But  by  the  section  dealing  with 
privileges.  political  rights,  the  Protestants  were  granted  an  exceptional 

position,  in  entire  disagreement  with  present-day  concept 
tions,  and  destined  to  prove  incompatible  with  the  interests 
and  even  the  existence  of  the  state.  They  could  hold  assem- 
blies in  which  they  legislated  for  themselves,  and  they  were 
put  in  military  possession  of  a  certain  number  of  fortified 
towns,  of  which  La  Rochelle  was  the  chief.  As  long  ai 
Henry  lived,  there  was  peace  between  Protestants  and  Cath- 
olics, but  the  tolerant  spirit  of  Henry  was  appreciated  by  but 
a  handful  of  men,  and  the  mass  of  Protestants  and  Catho- 
lics continued  to  regard  each  other  with  venomous  hatred. 
Once  again  we  may  see  how  in  that  age  of  religious  passion 
intolerance  was  not  so  much  the  work  of  the  governments 


And  the  Civil  Wars  in  France  197 

as  of  the  people  themselves,  a  thing  inborn  as  the  love  of  kin 
or  the  fear  of  fire.  Therefore,  the  strong  hand  of  Henry- 
had  no  sooner  been  withdrawn  than  the  religious  conflict 
threatened  to  revive. 

In  the  same  year  in  which  Henry  disposed  of  the  Protes-  Peace  with 
tant  issue,  he  signed  a  treaty  of  peace  with  Philip  II.  Spain  ^^'"'  '^^  ' 
had  made  common  cause  with  the  League,  and  was  recog- 
nized by  Henry  as  a  dangerous  enemy  to  his  House  and  na- 
tion, but  the  time  was  not  yet  ripe  for  decisive  action.  The 
Peace  of  Vervins  (1598)  drew  the  boundary  between  France 
and  Spain  as  determined  in  the  Treaty  of  Cateau-Cambresis 

of  1559- 

France  being  now  at  peace  within  and  without,  Henry  set   Peace  labors 

about  the  task  of  healing  the  wounds  of  his  stricken  country.  Sully."^^ 
The  finances  were  put  in  charge  of  a  friend  of  his  Hugue- 
not days,  the  duke  of  Sully,  whose  vigilance  and  honesty 
soon  wiped  out  a  large  part  of  the  state  debt  and  converted 
the  annual  deficit  into  an  annual  surplus.  Henry  himself 
did  all  in  his  power  to  encourage  agriculture,  then  as  now 
the  chief  source  of  French  prosperity.  He  built  good 
roads,  he  favored  new  industries,  especially  the  manufac- 
ture of  silk,  and  he  made  a  modest  beginning  toward  acquir- 
ing for  France  a  foothold  in  America  by  furthering  French 
enterprise  in  the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

When,  after  years   of   reconstructive    labor,  Henry  saw  Henry  resolves 
himself  at  the  head   of  a   flourishing  commonwealth,   he   House  of  Haps- 
again  turned  with  vigor  to  foreign  affairs.     The  House  of  '^"''S- 
Hapsburg,  reigning  through  its  two  branches  in  Spain  and 
Austria,  seemed  to  him,  now  as  ever,  the  great  enemy  of 
France.     Throughout  the  period  of  peace  he  had  cultivated 
the  friendship  of  the  smaller  powers  of  Europe — the  Italian 
states,  the  Swiss,  Holland — until  he  exercised  a  kind  of  pro- 
tectorship over  them.     Thus  backed,  he  thought  he  might 
summon  the  House  of  Hapsburg  once  more  to  the  field.     A 


198 


The  Refor^natioii 


Murdered, 
1610. 


The  regency 
of  Maria  de' 
Medici. 


Richelieu 
saves  the 
state. 


local  quarrel  in  Germany  was  just  about  to  furnish  him  with 
the  necessary  pretext  for  beginning  the  war,  when  on  May 
14,  16 10,  he  was  laid  low  by  the  dagger  of  a  fanatic  named 
Ravaillac. 

At  Henry's  death  his  son  Louis  XIII.  (1610-43)  was  but 
nine  years  old.  Accordingly,  a  regency  was  proclaimed 
under  Louis's  mother,  Maria  de'  Medici,  whom  Henry  IV. 
had  married  upon  the  grant  of  a  divorce  from  his  first  wife, 
Margaret  of  Valois.  Maria,  an  Italian  of  the  same  House  as 
the  former  regent,  Catherine  de'  Medici,  was  a  large  and 
coarse  woman  ("ime  grosse  banquUre"  was  her  husband's 
ungallant  description  of  her),  without  personal  or  political 
merit.  The  sovereign  power  was,  therefore,  soon  in  a  bad 
way.  Italian  favorites  exercised  control,  and  the  turbulent 
nobihty,  which  had  been  repressed  by  the  firm  hand  of  Henry 
IV.,  began  again  to  aspire  to  political  importance.  Among 
these  nobles  the  Huguenot  aristocracy,  who  had  been  per- 
mitted by  the  Edict  of  Nantes  to  keep  up  an  army  and  several 
fortified  places,  assumed  an  especially  threatening  tone,  and 
judging  from  the  confusion  which  followed  Maria's  assump- 
tion of  power,  it  seemed  more  than  likely  that  France  was 
drifting  into  another  era  of  civil  war. 

If  France  was  saved  from  this  calamity,  it  was  due,  and 
solely  due,  to  one  man,  Armand  Jean  du  Plessis,  known  to 
fame  as  Cardinal  Richelieu.  When  he  entered  the  royal 
council,  to  become  before  long,  by  the  natural  ascendancy  of 
his  intellect,  the  leading  minister  (1624),  the  queen-regent 
had  already  been  succeeded  by  the  king;  but  under  the  king, 
who  had  much  more  of  his  mother  than  of  his  father  in  him, 
and  was  dull  and  slothful,  the  affairs  of  the  realm  had  not 
been  in  the  least  improved.  Richelieu,  therefore,  found 
himself  confronted  by  a  heavy  task.  But  his  unique  position 
proved  a  help  to  him  in  fulfilling  it.  As  a  boy  he  had 
been  destined  for  the  Church,  and  at  a  ludicrously  early 


And  the  Civil  Wars  in  France  199 

age  he  had,  by  reason  of  his  noble  birth  and  the  favor  of 
the  king,  been  made  bishop  of  Lujon.  Later  he  was  hon- 
ored by  the  Pope  with  the  cardinal's  hat.  His  ecclesiastical 
dignities,  added  to  his  position  in  the  state,  raised  his  au- 
thority to  a  height  where  it  could  not  be  assailed  while  the 
king  supported  him.  And  this  the  king  did  to  the  fullest 
extent.  That  is  the  dullard  Louis  XIII. 's  greatest  merit  in 
the  eyes  of  history.  While  Richelieu  lived,  he  retained,  in 
spite  of  intrigues  and  conspiracies,  the  power  in  his  hands 
and  was  the  real  king  of  France. 

Richelieu  was  one  of  those  rare  statesmen  who  can  form  Hispro- 
and  carry  through  with  an  iron  will  a  policy  suited  to  the  sramme. 
needs  of  the  country.  His  programme,  which  seems  to  have 
been  inspired  by  that  of  Henry  IV.,  falls  into  three  sections. 
In  the  first  place,  he  inherited  Henry's  tolerance,  a  circum- 
stance the  more  remarkable  as  he  was  a  leading  dignitary 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  He  would  grant  the 
Huguenots  the  civil  and  religious  rights  laid  down  in  the 
Edict  of  Nantes,  but  their  political  rights,  which  made  them 
almost  independent  of  the  state,  he  would  ruthlessly  destroy. 
His  second  aim  was  to  clip  the  wings  of  the  nobility  once  for 
all,  and  his  third,  to  overthrow  for  the  glory  of  France  the 
power  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg. 

He  first  attacked  the  pressing  problem  of  the  Huguenots.  The  Hugueno. 
Since  Henry's  death  they  had  become  restless  and  hung  on  ^™  ^"^' 
the  horizon  like  a  thunder-cloud,  ready  to  burst  at  any  mo- 
ment. Richelieu  proceeded  cautiously,  treated  with  them  as 
long  as  negotiation  was  feasible,  and  suddenly,  when  the  op- 
portunity came,  invested  their  chief  town,  La  Rochelle.  A 
long  siege  followed,  wherein  the  endurance  of  the  beleaguered 
citizens  proved  no  match  for  the  skill  of  the  tireless  cardinal, 
who  conducted  the  operations  in  person.  The  English  fleet, 
sent  by  Charles  I.,  tried  to  relieve  the  town,  but  in  vain.  In 
1628  the  Rochellese,  having  lost  16,000  inhabitants  through 


200 


The  Reformation 


The  turbulent 
nobility. 


Centralization 
of  administra- 
tion. 


hunger  and  pestilence,  surrendered  at  discretion.  The  next 
year  the  remnant  of  the  Protestant  forces  in  the  south  was 
likewise  disarmed  and  Richelieu  was  master  of  the  situation. 
But  now  his  admirable  moderation  came  to  light.  The 
ordinary  ruler  of  the  time  would  have  compelled  the  beaten 
minority  to  conform  to  the  religion  of  the  majority  or  else 
be  burned  or  banished.  Not  so  Richelieu,  true  forerunner 
of  the  brotherhood  of  all  Christian  men.  He  confirmed  to 
the  Huguenots  the  civil  and  religious  rights  granted  by  the 
Edict  of  Nantes,  and  for  the  rest  incorporated  them  into  the 
state  on  the  basis  of  equality  with  all  other  Frenchmen  by 
cancelling  their  special  political  privileges. 

The  turbulent  nobles  intrenched  in  the  provinces,  where 
they  exercised  most  of  the  functions  of  the  local  governments, 
gave  the  cardinal  much  food  for  thought.  With  his  clear 
eye  he  saw  that  they  were  an  anomaly  in  a  state  aspiring  to  be 
modern.  They  carried  on  a  veritable  private  warfare  by 
their  duelling  habits,  and  defied  the  authorities  from  behind 
their  fortified  castles.  So  Richelieu  threw  himself  upon 
duels  and  castles,  declaring  by  edict  that  the  time  for  them 
was  past,  and  executing  a  few  of  the  most  persistent  duel- 
lists as  an  example  to  their  class.  He  also  directly  un- 
dermined their  authority  by  settling  in  the  provinces 
agents  called  intendants,  who  took  supreme  charge  of  jus- 
tice, police,  and  finances.  These  intendants  were  common- 
ers, who  executed  orders  received  from  Paris,  and  marked 
the  creation  of  a  new  and  highly  centralized  administration, 
in  place  of  the  ancient  feudal  one  w'ith  the  power  in  the 
hands  of  the  local  magnates.  By  virtue  of  this  systematic 
abasement  of  the  nobility  to  the  profit  of  the  royal  executive, 
it  is  frequently  maintained  that  Richelieu  created  the  ab- 
solute monarchy.  This  is  not  strictly  true,  for  we  have 
seen  that  the  French  kings  had  been  becoming  more  and 
more  powerful  ever  since  the  fifteenth  century,  but  it  is 


And  the  Civil  Wars  in  France  201 

beyond  contradiction   that   Richelieu    eminently  improved 
the  king's  position  by  his  successful  war  upon  the  nobles. 

Here  we  are  tempted  to  ask  what  became,  in  the  presence  Richelieu,  the 
of  this  exaltation  of  the  royal  prerogative,  of  those  institu-  and  the  Par-  ' 
tions  which  still  exercised  some  check  on  the  king's  will —  liaments. 
the  States-General  and  the  Parliaments?  Richelieu  re- 
garded their  pretensions  with  suspicion.  The  States-Gen- 
eral, composed  of  the  three  classes,  clergy,  nobles,  and 
commoners,  had  been  summoned  by  the  regent  in  1614, 
quarrelled,  as  usual,  among  themselves,  and  accomplished 
nothing.  Richelieu  did  not  summon  them  again.  They 
fell  into  obhvion  and  were  not  thought  of  until  the  absolute 
monarchy,  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  years  later,  ac- 
knowledged its  bankruptcy,  and  was  reminded  of  this 
means  of  appealing  to  the  people  for  aid.  The  Parliaments 
— there  were  ten  of  them  in  Richelieu's  day — fared  some- 
what better.  They  continued  to  act  as  supreme  courts  of 
justice,  but  their  interference  with  political  affairs  the  high- 
handed cardinal  would  not  suffer. 

With  the  Huguenots  at  peace  and  the  selfish  nobility  held  Richelieu  and 
in  check,  Richelieu  could  take  up  with  vigor  his  foreign  plans,  Years'  Wai 
looking  to  the  humiliation  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg.  It 
was  a  most  convenient  circumstance  that  Germany  was  con- 
vulsed at  this  time  with  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  (See  next 
chapter.)  With  the  instinct  of  a  statesman  Richelieu  felt 
that  if  he  helped  the  German  Protestants  against  the  Cath- 
olics, represented  by  the  emperor  and  Spain,  he  would  sooner 
or  later  acquire  some  permanent  advantages  for  France. 
His  gradual  interference,  developing  from  occasional  subsi- 
dies of  money  to  the  recruitment  of  large  armies,  finally  se- 
cured to  his  king  the  balance  of  power  in  the  German  war, 
and  made  France  practical  dictator  of  Europe  when  the 
Peace  of  Westphalia  (1648)  ended  the  struggle.  Richelieu 
did  not  live  to  see  this  result  (he  died  1642),  but  the  ad- 


'ar. 


202  The  Reformation 

vantage  which  France  secured  on  that  occasion   may  be 
written  down  to  his  statesmanlike  conduct  of  the  government. 
Bloom  of  Many  criticisms  can  be  urged  against  RicheHeu's  rule;  for 

instance,  his  handling  of  the  finances  was  mere  muddling, 
and  his  exaltation  of  the  monarch  at  the  expense  of  every 
other  institution  in  the  state  led  in  the  eighteenth  century 
to  dire  disasters.  But  the  sum  of  his  achievement  is  none 
the  less  immense,  when  we  reflect  that  he  welded  France  into 
a  solid  union  and  made  her  supreme  in  Europe.  The  new 
splendor  could  not  fail  to  stir  the  imagination,  and  favor 
the  bloom  of  art  and  literature.  The  cardinal  himself  es- 
tablished the  famous  Academy  of  France  as  a  kind  of  sov- 
ereign body  in  the  field  of  letters  (1635),  and  lived  to  see 
the  birth  of  the  French  drama  in  the  work  of  Corneille 
("The  Cid,"  1636).  This  is  an  important  circumstance,  for 
France  was  destined  in  the  days  after  Richelieu  to  exercise 
an  even  wider  empire  through  her  culture  than  through  her 
arms. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  THIRTY  YEARS'    WAR  AND   THE  PEACE   OF  WESTPHALIA 

References:  Wakeman,  Europe  1598-17 15,  Chapters 
IV.,  v.,  VI.;  Gardiner,  The  Thirty  Years'  War;  Gin- 
DELY,  The  Thirty  Years'  War  (a  detailed  and  scholarly 
work);  Fletcher,  Gustavus  Adolphus. 

Source  Readings:  Robinson,  Readings,  Vol.  II.,  Chapter 
XXIX.  (The  Jesuits  in  Germany,  Sack  of  Magdeburg, 
Treaty  of  Westphalia,  etc.). 

The  Peace  of  Augsburg  of  the  year  1555  was  undoubtedly  Religious  and 

.         ,       ^  T-.  -n        •,  1  •  political  bcar- 

a  Victory  for  the  German  Protestants.     But  it  was  also,  smce   ingofthe 

it  took  the  affairs  of  religion  out  of  the  hands  of  the  emperor   burg^t5s"^'' 

and  put  them  in  the  hands  of  the  local  powers,  a  victory  of 

the  princes.    Henceforth  the  decline  of  the  emperor  was  more 

certain  than  ever,  while  at  the  same  time  it  became  plain 

that  the  future  of  the  German  people  depended  on  the  ability 

of  the  princes  to  shape  their  territories  into  modern  states. 

But  if  the  Peace  of  Augsburg  represents  a  victory  of  Prot-  Unsolved  re- 
estantism  over  Catholicism,  and  of  the  princes  over  the  em-  le^^^^'^^ 
peror,  it  was  far  from  being  a  final  settlement  of  the  troubles 
of  Germany.  The  peace  left  important  matters  in  suspense. 
To  mention  only  two:  (i)  It  recognized  Lutheranism  with- 
out extending  any  rights  whatever  to  Calvinism;  and  (2)  the 
article  called  the  Ecclesiastical  Reservation,  as  interpreted 
by  the  Catholics,  prohibited  any  further  seizures  of  Church 
property.  None  the  less,  the  Lutherans,  who  put  their  own 
reading  upon  the  Ecclesiastical  Reservation,  continued  to 
take  monastic  property  and  to  appropriate  abbacies  and 

203 


204 


TJie   TJiirty   Years'   War 


Continued 
Protestant 
successes. 


The  Catholic 
reaction. 


bishoprics  wherever  they  had  the  power.  Calvinism,  too, 
in  greater  favor  than  Lutheranism  among  Protestants  radi- 
cally inclined,  continued  to  spread,  although  no  law  pro- 
tected it.  Add  to  these  difficulties  the  hot  passion  which 
every  question  of  religion  excited  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
and  it  is  plain  that  the  country  was  drifting  into  another 
civil  war. 

That  the  struggle  was  adjourned  for  over  half  a  century 
was  due  to  a  variety  of  causes.  In  the  first  place,  the  im- 
mediate successors  of  Emperor  Charles  V.,  Ferdinand  I. 
(1556-64)  and  Maximilian  II.  (1564-76),  were  moderate 
men,  who  did  their  utmost  to  preserve  peace.  Their  views 
were  seconded  by  the  leading  Lutheran  princes,  inclined  by 
the  natural  conservatism  of  successful  men  to  rest  content 
with  what  they  had  won.  Besides,  these  princes  entertained 
the  hope  that  without  war,  by  gradual  infiltration  into  all 
classes  of  society  and  through  all  districts.  Protestantism 
might  make  a  clean  sweep  of  Germany.  And,  really,  for 
some  years  the  prospects  were  excellent.  Protestantism  pos- 
sessed youth  and  confidence,  and,  in  the  Lutheran  form  at 
least,  had  a  legal  sanction.  It  continued  to  mount,  like  a  tide, 
until  it  had  covered  the  whole  centre  and  north  of  Germany, 
and  threatened  the  great  bishoprics  along  the  Rhine  and  the 
Hapsburg  and  Bavarian  dominions  in  the  south.  To  a  dis- 
passionate observer  it  must  have  looked  highly  probable  that 
the  Roman  Church,  undermined  in  these,  its  last  strongholds, 
would  soon  topple.  But  this  culminating  catastrophe  never 
took  place.  For  one  thing,  the  dominant  Lutherans  were  of 
too  lax  a  temper  to  make  the  best  of  their  opportunities,  and 
in  the  second  place,  in  the  very  nick  of  time  the  Catholic 
Counter-Reformation  reached  Germany,  and  instilled  into 
the  dying  cause  a  new  vigor. 

We  have  already  taken  note  of  how  the  Jesuits  and  the 
Council  of  Trent  steadied  the  wavering  Catholic  ranks  all 


And  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  205 

over  the  world.  This  effect  did  not  make  itself  felt  in  Ger- 
many until  the  last  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century,  when 
Rudolph  II.  (1576-1612)  was  upon  the  throne.  Breaking 
away  from  the  moderate  policy  of  his  immediate  predeces- 
sors, he  set  his  heart  on  bringing  the  Roman  Church  once 
more  to  the  front,  and  did  all  in  his  power  to  favor  his 
friends,  the  Jesuits.  Operating  from  the  court  of  Vienna  as 
a  centre,  and  also  from  that  of  Bavaria,  whose  ruling  family 
was,  if  possible,  even  more  narrowly  Catholic  than  the 
Hapsburgs,  the  devoted  followers  of  Ignatius  Loyola  grad- 
ually spread  in  every  direction.  Their  churches  multiplied, 
and  their  schools,  conducted  with  energy  and  intelligence, 
were  largely  attended.  Presently  the  Protestant  advance 
was  checked  all  along  the  line,  and  an  energetic  Catholic 
propaganda  began  to  score  triumphs  in  those  doubtful  re- 
gions, chiefly  of  the  south,  where  Protestantism  was  as  yet 
but  a  matter  of  isolated  outposts. 

By  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  tension   Increasing 
between  the  parties  was  nearing  the  danger  point,  and  every 
new  incident  increased  the  probability  of  a  rupture.     The 
affair    of   Donauworth    indicated   from  what   quarter   the 
wind  was  now  blowing  over  Germany.     Donauworth,  on 
the  upper  Danube,  was  a  free  city,  meaning,  it  will  be  re- 
membered, that  it  governed  itself  like  a   small  republic. 
The  Protestant  townsmen,  being  in  the  majority,  ventured 
to  break  up  a  Catholic  procession,  for  which  deed  the  Em- 
peror Rudolph  put  the  city  under  the  ban  of  the  Empire, 
and  commissioned  the  duke  of  Bavaria  to  occupy  it  with 
an  armed  force.     This  done,  the  Catholic  worship  was  re- 
established and  Protestantism  put  down  (1607).     It  was  a  The  Protes- 
high-handed  act  and  so  excited  the  more  radical  Protestants   j^og.  "'°"' 
that  in  1608  they  formed  a  Union  to  check  similar  aggressions. 
The  duke  of  Bavaria  met  this  measure  by  associating  himself  The  Cathohc 
with  a  number  of  bishops  and  abbots  in  a  Catholic  League  ^^^^ue,  1609. 


2o6  The   Thirty   Years    War 


(1609).  When  men  between  whom  no  love  is  lost  go  about 
armed,  the  chances  of  a  clash  are  greatly  increased.  Never- 
theless, so  general  was  the  dread  of  civil  war  that,  in  spite  of 
ever-increasing  difficulties,  the  peace  was  preserved  for  an- 
other decade. 
The  outbreak  The  occasion  that  finally  precipitated  the  long-expected 
1 61 8.  '       conflict  was  furnished  by  Bohemia.     Bohemia  was  a  king- 

dom but  recently  added  to  the  dominions  of  the  House  of 
Hapsburg.  Its  inhabitants  were  Germans  and  Czechs,  the 
Czechs,  a  Slavic  people,  being  decidedly  in  the  majority.  In 
the  fifteenth  century  Bohemia  had  risen  into  European  prom- 
inence through  its  great  citizen  John  Huss,  who  initiated 
a  reform  movement  in  the  Church,  and  was  condemned  for 
it  to  a  heretic's  death  at  the  stake.  The  wild  rebellion  of 
the  followers  of  Huss  was  after  many  failures  put  down, 
but  the  discontented  province  continued  to  be  a  likely  field 
for  revolutionary  agitation.  In  consequence,  when  Luther 
lifted  his  voice  in  Saxony  his  words  raised  an  echo  across  the 
border  and  made  many  converts.  Nor  was  the  movement 
much  hindered  by  the  authorities  until  Emperor  Rudolph 
came  to  the  throne.  Devoted  son  of  the  Church  that  he 
was,  he  tried  to  suppress  it,  but,  incapable  and  half  insane, 
he  only  botched  matters,  and  was  in  the  end  constrained  to 
grant  the  Protestants  a  limited  toleration  in  a  charter  of  the 
year  1609.  But  both  Rudolph  and  his  successor  Matthias 
(161 2-1 9)  carried  out  the  terms  of  the  charter  grudgingly; 
and  by  many  high-handed  acts  kept  the  suspicions  of  the 
Protestants  alive.  In  the  year  1618,  angered  beyond  en- 
durance by  the  duplicity  of  their  ruler,  they  rose  in  revolt. 
The  emperor  resided  at  Vienna,  and  was  represented  at 
Prague,  the  capital  of  his  Bohemian  kingdom,  by  a  body  of 
governors.  These  the  insurgents  attacked,  invaded  their 
castle,  and  summarily  tossed  two  of  them,  with  their  secre- 
tary, out  of  the  window  into  the  fosse  below.     It  was  a  fall 


And  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  207 

of  sheer  one  hundred  feet,  but,  wonderful  to  say,  had  no  evil 
consequences.  The  grateful  victims,  on  scrambling  out  of 
the  ditch,  ascribed  their  rescue  to  the  intervention  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  but  sceptical  Protestants  called  attention  to 
the  soft  heaps  of  refuse  which  had  accumulated  in  the  moat. 
As  soon  as  the  deed  was  done,  the  insurgents  set  up  a  gov- 
ernment of  their  own.  Thus  far  the  rebellion  was  a  local 
Bohemian  incident;  but  it  proved  to  be  the  event  which 
lighted  the  long-laid  fuse  and  precipitated  the  great  struggle 
known  as  the  Thirty  Years'  War. 

Whoever  makes  a  study  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  will  The  periods 
be  struck  by  the  fact  that  it  is  really  not  so  much  a  single  veare'  Warf 
war  as  an  aggregation  of  wars.  It  therefore  falls  naturally 
into  different  periods,  designated  by  the  question  or  power 
which  is  uppermost  at  the  time.  Five  such  periods  are 
clearly  distinguishable:  the  Bohemian  Period  (1618-20), 
the  Palatine  Period  (1621-23),  the  Danish  Period  (1625- 
29),  the  Swedish  Period  (1630-35),  and  the  French  Pe- 
riod (1635-48).  These  divisions  indicate  how  the  struggle, 
beginning  in  Bohemia,  spread  like  an  infection,  until  it 
included  all  Europe.  From  Bohemia,  where,  we  have 
seen,  it  had  its  origin,  it  ate  its  way  into  southern  Ger- 
many into  the  region  known  as  the  Palatinate;  this  is  the 
Palatine  Period.  Then  slowly  northern  Germany  and  its 
nearest  Protestant  neighbor,  Denmark,  were  drawn  into 
its  sphere;  this  is  the  Danish  Period.  And  finally  one  and 
another  foreign  country  was  moved  to  take  part,  until  the 
war,  while  continuing  to  be  a  German  civil  struggle,  acquired 
something  of  the  aspect  of  a  world-clash  between  Protestant- 
ism and  Catholicism,  and  something,  too,  of  a  duel  between 
the  two  greatest  reigning  houses  of  Europe,  Hapsburg  and 
Bourbon. 


2o8  The  Thirty   Years    War 


The  Bohemian  Period  (1618-20). 

The  Bo-  The  revolutionists  at  Prague  had  hardly  set  up  their 

peal  toThe*^       government,  when  they  appealed  to  the  German  Protestants 
German  {qj-  \ye\r).    The  Lutherans  of  the  north  denied  them  even 

Protestants.  ^  .  •  i 

their  sympathy,  while  the  Calvinists,  inhabiting  chiefly  the 
south  and  associated  together  in  the  Protestant  Union,  offered 
advice,  but  little  help.  The  fact  was  that  the  Bohemians 
were  in  rebellion,  and  rebellion  is  a  matter  which  conserva- 
tive men  will  always  treat  with  caution.  There  were,  how- 
ever, in  the  Union  a  number  of  flighty,  sanguine  characters, 
who  were  bent  on  striking,  through  the  Bohemian  matter,  a 
blow  at  the  Hapsburgs  and  Catholicism.  Chief  of  these  was 
the  president  of  the  Union,  the  Elector  Frederick,  ruling 
over  the  region  called  the  Palatinate,  of  which  Heidelberg 
was  the  capital.  He  began  by  giving  the  rebellion  secret 
help,  nursing  the  hope,  meanwhile,  that  he  would  in  the 
end  be  able  to  draw  the  Union  with  him.  In  this  he  was 
mistaken.  The  Union  temporized,  adopted  a  few  useless 
measures,  and  before  long  dissolved  itself.  Its  history  is 
practically  zero. 
Ferdinan-i  1.,  Meanwhile,  hostilities  had  begun  between  the  emperor 
1619-37-  ^^^  j^jg  revolted   subjects.     They  had    not  advanced  far 

when  the  incapable  Matthias  died  (March,  1619),  and  the 
Hapsburg  dominions  passed  to  a  better  man,  Ferdinand  II. 
He  had  been  brought  up  by  the  Jesuits  and  filled  by  thera 
with  their  devotion  to  the  Church.  He  was  small  and  feeble, 
with  hooked  nose,  weak  eyes,  and  thin  hair — plainly  not 
the  captain  of  men  who  shakes  the  world  with  his  ambitions. 
Nevertheless,  where  his  convictions  were  involved  this  frail 
sovereign  proved  himself  more  immovable  than  men  of  a 
more  heroic  aspect.  Having  made  sure  of  the  attachment 
to  himself  of  all  the  Hapsburg  dominions  save  Bohemia,  he 
set  out  for  Frankfurt,  where  the  assembly  of  German  electors 


And  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  209 

was  convened,  after  the  usual  fashion,  to  name  the  successor 
of  Matthias.     Although  three  of  the  seven  electors  were 
Protestants,  the  electoral  college  so  far  accepted  the  time- 
honored  ascendancy  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg  as  to  raise 
him  to  the  imperial  dignity.     Having  gained  thus  much, 
Ferdinand  felt  that  he  must  strain  every  nerve  to  recover 
Bohemia.     The   case   was    rapidly    becoming  urgent,   for 
almost  at   the   same  moment  that   he  was  acclaimed  at 
Frankfurt,  the  Bohemian  struggle  had  entered  a  new  and 
more  dangerous  phase :  the  revolutionists  had  made  an  offer  The  Elector 
of  the  crown  to  the  Elector  Frederick.     Frederick  hesitated,   comes  king  of 
torn  between  anxiety  and  hope,  but  in  the  end,  spurred  on  Bohemia,  1619 
by  his  ambition,  set  out  for  Prague,  and  on  November  4, 
1619,  was  crowned  king. 

While  making  preparations  for  a  vigorous  campaign,  Fer-  Maximilian 
dinand  approached  the  Catholic  League  for  aid.  This  or- 
ganization, which  was  destined  to  play  a  very  considerable 
role  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  was,  in  distinction  from  its 
rival,  the  Union,  most  efficiently  managed  by  its  president, 
Maximilian,  duke  of  Bavaria.  Maximilian  proved  himself, 
in  the  course  of  the  war,  to  be  the  most  capable  sovereign 
of  Germany.  He  had  been  brought  up,  like  Ferdinand,  by 
the  Jesuits,  and  shared  the  new  emperor's  devotion  to  the 
Church.  He  tempered  that  devotion,  however,  with  a  states- 
manship such  as  the  imperial  dreamer  and  bigot  had  no 
inkling  of.  From  the  moment  of  his  accession  he  prepared 
for  the  coming  crisis  by  laying  up  money  and  drilling  an 
army.  In  the  hard  struggles  of  this  world  it  is  generally 
such  men  as  Maximilian  who  succeed,  men  who  exercise 
foresight  and  energetically  carry  through  well-laid  plans. 
Maximilian  was  thoroughly  aroused  over  what  he  consid- 
ered the  Elector  Frederick's  usurpation,  and  did  not 
require  much  coaxing  to  put  his  forces  at  Ferdinand's 
disposal. 


2IO 


The   Thirty    Years    War 


The  decisive 
Bohemian 
campaign  of 
1630. 


In  the  year  1620  there  followed  the  campaign  which  de 
cided  the  fate  of  Bohemia.  Was  the  country  to  remain  Prot- 
estant under  its  new  king,  Frederick,  or  to  be  won  back  by 
the  Catholics  and  handed  over  to  Ferdinand?  If  the  Prot- 
estants had  had  a  different  champion,  their  outlook  might 
have  been  more  brilliant.  Frederick  was  a  man  of  little 
brains,  and  such  spirit  as  he  had  was  largely  supplied  by 
his  wife.  What  made  greatly  against  his  chances  was  thai 
politically  he  stood  alone.  The  Union,  in  spite  of  his  ap- 
peals, did  next  to  nothing,  while  among  the  Lutherans  one 
man,  the  powerful  elector  of  Saxony,  acted  with  Ferdinand. 
The  forces  of  the  League,  under  the  command  of  General 
Tilly,  penetrated  into  Bohemia  until  they  came  within  sight 
of  the  towers  of  Prague.  They  found  Frederick's  army 
drawn  up  on  the  White  Hill  to  the  west  of  the  town,  and 
the  ensuing  battle  was  a  crushing  defeat  for  Frederick,  who 
fled  for  his  life.  The  Jesuits  had  mockingly  foretold  that 
he  would  prove  but  a  winter  king,  a  man  of  snow,  vanish- 
ing at  the  first  ray  of  the  sun,  and  they  were  right.  Fer- 
dinand, followed  by  an  army  of  priests  and  Jesuits,  took 
possession  of  Bohemia,  confiscated  the  immense  estates  of 
the  revolted  nobles,  and  gradually  forced  the  people  back 
to  Catholicism. 


Seizure  of  the 
Palatinate. 


The  Palatine  Period  (1621-23). 

The  Bohemian  episode  was  closed,  and  lovers  of  peace 
hoped  that  the  war  would  now  end.  They  were  disap- 
pointed, for  neither  would  the  defeated  Frederick  give  up  his 
claims,  nor  could  the  elated  Catholics  resist  the  temptation 
to  make  the  most  of  their  victory.  An  entirely  new  cause  of 
war  was  created  when  the  emperor,  egged  on  by  his  Jesuit 
advisers,  deprived  Frederick  of  his  electoral  title,  and  com- 
missioned Maximilian,  together  with  his  allies,  the  Span- 
iards, to  take  military  possession  of  the  Palatinate.     This 


And  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  211 

looked  dangerously  like  violence,  especially  as  a  Catholic 
army  encamped  among  Protestants  was  sure  to  kindle  fierce 
resentment.  Frederick,  with  a  little  help  from  various  quar- 
ters, made  what  resistance  he  could,  but  had  to  yield  to  the 
more  disciplined  troops  of  his  adversaries.  By  the  end  of 
the  year  1622  not  a  foot  of  his  inherited  states  was  in  his 
possession.  The  emperor,  victorious  beyond  his  dreams, 
thought  he  could  now  dispose  of  the  Palatinate  as  a  con- 
quered province.  He  transferred  (1623)  the  electoral  dig- 
nity from  Frederick  to  Maximilian,  duke  and  henceforth 
elector  of  Bavaria,  and  still  further  rewarded  his  ally  by 
conferring  upon  him  a  part  of  the  Palatine  territory  (the 
Upper  Palatinate). 

Meanwhile,  Protestant  Europe  had  watched  with  alarm  Alarm  of 
the  progress  of  the  Catholic  arms.  The  tie  of  religion  was  Europe*^' 
still  so  close  that  various  Protestant  powers,  England,  Hol- 
land, Sweden,  and  Denmark,  began  to  discuss  possible  meas- 
ures for  the  relief  of  their  German  brethren.  The  leader- 
ship in  any  such  concerted  action  would  naturally  fall  to 
England,  not  only  because  England  under  Elizabeth  had 
stepped  to  the  front  of  the  Protestant  world,  but  also  be- 
cause the  reigning  English  sovereign,  James  I.,  was  the 
father-in-law  of  Frederick  of  the  Palatinate,  husband  of  the 
fair  and  ambitious  Princess  Elizabeth.  James,  to  be  sure, 
had  counselled  against  the  Bohemian  adventure  because  he 
had  an  unreasoning  aversion  to  rebellion,  but  when  Fred- 
erick lost  the  Palatinate,  too,  he  could  not  refuse  to  bestir 
himself  in  his  cause.  He  began  with  the  idea  that  an  ami- 
cable adjustment  was  possible  through  the  combined  inter- 
vention in  Germany  of  England  and  Spain,  and  planned 
in  furtherance  of  this  policy,  a  marriage  alliance  with  the 
Spanish  House.  But  the  Spaniards  negotiated  onlv  to  gain 
time,  waited  till  the  Palatinate  was  safe  in  the  emperor's 
hands,  and  then  raised  the  price  of  their  friendship.     Hence- 


212 


The   TJiirty   Years    War 


Failure  of 
James  of 
England's  pro- 
jected Protes- 
tant alliance. 


forth  James  breathed  war  and  planned  a  great  alliance  to 
wrest  the  Palatinate  from  the  Catholics  by  force.     Here, 
too,  ill  luck  pursued  him.    The  Dutch  had  in  1609  signed 
a  truce  with  the  Spaniards  which  had  just  (162 1)  expired. 
The  renewed  war  with  their  old  tyrants  fully  occupied  their 
energies.     Sweden,  ruled  by  Gustavus  Adolphus,  listened, 
but  proposed  a  plan  that  was  not  to  James's  liking.     Be- 
sides,   Gustavus  had   troubles  with   Russia   and   Poland, 
which  seemed  as  much  of  a  load  as  his  shoulders  could  bear 
for  the  time  being.     There  remained  Denmark,  and  James 
signed  a  treaty  with  the  king  of  that  country,  Christian  IV., 
by  which  England  promised  to  supply  him  with  money  in 
case  he  headed  a  Protestant  attack.     Mindful  of  the  enmity 
between  Hapsburg  and  Bourbon,  James  even  approached 
France,  and  France,  though  a  Catholic  country,  was  willing 
to  lend  a  hand;  but  unfortunately  the  Huguenot  embers  still 
smouldered,  and  Richelieu,  who  had  just  then  acquired  a 
dominant  influence  (1624),  with  characteristic  caution  re- 
solved to  attend   first  to  matters  at  home.     Before  long 
England   itself  was   paralyzed    by  domestic  troubles,    for 
James  rashly  involved  himself  in  that  quarrel  with  his  peo- 
ple which  led  later  to  the  great  civil  war,  and  which  for  the 
moment  left  him  vv-ithout  funds,  since  his  angry  Parliament 
would  put  no  money  in  his  hands.     The  upshot  of  the 
vaunted  European  alliance  was  that  the  Danish  king  took 
up  the  war  against  the  emperor  single-handed,  without  so 
much  as  getting  the  promised  money  help  from  England. 


Christian  con- 
fronted by 
Tilly  and 
Wallenstein. 


The  Danish,  War  (1625-29). 
With  the  entrance  of  Christian  IV.  into  the  war,  the  scene 
of  action  was  transferred  from  the  south  to  the  north.  Tilly, 
who  still  commanded  the  army  of  the  League,  moved  against 
him,  but  Christian  at  first  had  the  advantage  of  position 
and  numbers.     Just  as  he  thought  he  had  the  situation 


And  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  213 

in  hand,  a  second  Catholic  army  appeared  and  threatened 
his  flank.  Raised  in  the  name  of  the  emperor,  this  force  Wallenstein 
was  really  the  first  imperial  army  put  forward  in  this  war —  i^rperfaUrmw 
Tilly,  it  must  always  be  remembered,  was  employed  by  the 
League — and  was  commanded  by  Wallenstein.  Wallen- 
stein was  a  Bohemian  nobleman,  who  had  remained  true  to 
Ferdinand,  and  who  had  been  rewarded  with  immense  es- 
tates taken  from  the  defeated  rebels.  In  order  to  make  his 
master  independent  of  the  League,  he  had  counselled  him  to 
raise  an  army  of  his  own,  and  when  the  emperor  pleaded 
poverty,  Wallenstein  lured  him  on  with  a  plan  by  which 
the  army  should  be  self-supporting.  The  imperial  general 
would  simply  oblige  the  magistrates  of  the  districts  which  the 
army  happened  to  be  occupying,  to  furnish  him  with  the 
supplies  and  ready  money  of  which  he  stood  in  need.  Such 
a  system  of  forced  contributions  \vas  not  exactly  plunder, 
but  it  was  the  next  thing  to  it,  and  without  urgent  necessity 
the  meek  Ferdinand  would  never  have  given  his  consent  to 
anything  so  irregular.  Wallenstein  at  first  exercised  some 
restraint  upon  his  men,  but  as  the  country  grew  poorer,  it 
became  harder  and  harder  to  squeeze  support  out  of  it,  until 
the  general  was  obliged  to  take  whatever  he  could  find. 
Naturally,  his  rivals  were  not  slow  in  imitating  him,  with  the 
result  that  there  now  began  that  awful  harrying  of  Germany, 
the  cold  facts  of  which  remain  incredible  to  our  ears  and  con- 
firm the  saying  of  a  famous  American  general  that  war  is 
hell.  And  this  was  only  the  beginning,  for  there  were  des- 
tined to  be  twenty  and  more  years  of  this  slow  torture.  A 
French  historian  has  declared  the  fact  that  Germany  did  not 
become  an  out-and-out  wilderness,  one  of  the  most  extraor- 
dinary examples  of  endurance  which  humanity  has  furnished. 

A  word  concerning  the  armies  of  this  age  will  not  come  Theorganiza- 
amiss  here.     To  begin  with,  they  were  not  national  but   army!  ^^ 
mercenary.     A  sovereign,  wishing  to  raise  a  force,  com- 


214 


The   Thirty   Years'    War 


The  order 
of  battle. 


Christian  de- 
feated by 
Tilly  and 
WaUenstein. 


The  Peace  of 
Liibeck,  1629. 


missioned  a  number  of  officers,  who  hired  men  at  a  fixed 
price  wherever  they  were  to  be  found.  In  consequence,  an 
army  was  likely  to  look  more  like  an  international  congress 
than  anything  else — all  races,  costumes,  and  languages  were 
represented.  The  pay  of  both  officers  and  privates  was 
high,  and  an  army  cost,  at  least  in  salaries,  relatively  much 
more  than  to-day.  A  well-balanced  force  would  be  com- 
posed of  infantry  and  cavalry  in  about  equal  numbers,  the 
artillery  being  as  yet  a  factor  of  no  great  account.  The 
infantry  was  in  part  armed  with  rude  muskets,  but  owing  to 
the  fact  that  a  general  still  counted  on  winning  a  battle  by 
the  push  of  solidly  massed  squares,  the  more  usual  weapon  of 
the  foot-soldier  was  a  pike,  some  eighteen  feet  in  length.  In 
preparation  for  a  battle  the  cavalry  was  drawn  up  on  the 
wings,  while  the  infantry,  with  the  clumsy  and  ineffective 
artillery  corps  in  front  of  it,  held  the  centre.  All  this  looks 
rude  and  primitive  from  the  twentieth  century  point  of  view, 
but  it  remains  a  noticeable  fact  that  the  modern  science  of 
war  took  its  first  infantile  steps  in  this  period,  chiefly  under 
the  stimulus  of  Gustavus  Adolphus.  He  increased  his  ar- 
tillery pieces,  turned  them  to  better  use,  and  developed  in  his 
troops  a  greater  mobility  both  on  the  march  and  under  fire. 
And  now  to  return  to  the  Danish  War.  Christian  IV. 
was  no  match  for  the  forces  of  Tilly  and  WaUenstein.  A 
single  campaign  settled  his  fate.  In  1626  WaUenstein  de- 
feated his  lieutenant  Mansfeld  at  the  Bridge  of  Dessau,  and 
in  the  same  year  Tilly  crushed  Christian  himself  at  Lutter. 
Not  only  was  Christian  obliged  to  retire  from  Germany,  but 
he  was  pursued  into  his  own  dominions,  and  had  finally  to 
take  refuge  in  the  Danish  islands.  He  had  every  reason  to 
be  thankful  when,  in  the  year  1629,  the  emperor  signed  the 
Peace  of  Liibeck  with  him,  whereby,  in  return  for  the 
promise  not  to  meddle  again  in  German  affairs,  he  got  back 
his  Danish  territories. 


And  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  215 

Even  before  the  Peace  of  Liibeck  was  signed,  Wallenstein  The  revolu- 
had  overrun  the  whole  Protestant  north.  Nothing  seemed  of'wallenstdQ. 
able  to  resist  him.  Capable,  unscrupulous,  and  ambitious — 
the  type  of  the  military  adventurer — his  remarkable  mind 
began  to  nurse  designs  so  vast  and  intricate  that  they  have 
never  yet  been  entirely  fathomed.  In  the  main  his  plan 
appears  to  have  been  to  establish  the  supremacy  of  the  em- 
peror by  overawing  the  princes,  both  Catholic  and  Prot- 
estant. As  such  a  revolution  in  the  German  system  could 
be  effected  only  by  means  of  the  army,  of  which  he  was 
head,  he  foresaw  that  the  really  dominant  role  in  reunited 
Germany  would  be  secured  to  him.  But  the  plan  was 
bound  to  encounter  powerful  obstacles.  In  the  first  place 
Ferdinand  soon  showed  that  he  had  no  taste  for  the  part 
of  conqueror  which  Wallenstein  assigned  to  him,  and,  fur- 
ther, all  the  princes,  regardless  of  religion,  arraigned  them- 
selves against  the  man  who  tried  to  diminish  their  im- 
portance. 

If  we  survey  the  German  situation  in  the  year  1629,  the  Zenith  of 
Catholic  success  seemed  to  be  complete.     In  the  Bohemian   triumph  and 
and  Palatine  stages  of  the  war  the  Union  had  been  scattered   ^^.'^^  of  Resti 

°  tution,  1629. 

and  south  Germany  occupied,  while  in  the  Danish  stage, 
the  victorious  Catholic  soldiery  had  penetrated  to  the  shores 
of  the  North  and  Baltic  Seas.  In  the  length  and  breadth 
of  Germany  there  was  no  force  to  resist  the  emperor  and 
League,  who  thought  they  might  now  safely  level  a  decisive 
blow  at  the  Protestant  religion.  In  March,  1629,  Ferdinand 
published  the  Edict  of  Restitution,  by  which  the  Protestants 
were  dispossessed  of  all  Church  territories  seized  by  them 
since  the  Peace  of  Augsburg,  signed  three-quarters  of  a  cen- 
tury before.  The  measure  was  a  revolution.  At  a  stroke 
of  the  pen  two  archbishoprics,  twelve  bishoprics,  and  hun- 
dreds of  monasteries  passed,  without  regard  to  the  wishes 
of  the  people,  back  into  Catholic  hands.    The  emperor  had 


2l6 


The  Thirty   Years'    War 


Imperial  in- 
consistency. 
Wallenstein 
dismissed, 
1630. 


hitherto  cajoled  the  Lutherans  in  order  to  keep  them  quiet 
while  he  crushed  the  more  radical  Protestants,  but  by  this 
step  he  removed  the  mask.  It  was  not  Calvinism  which  he 
hated,  but  Protestantism  of  every  variety.  The  Edict  of 
Restitution  is  the  high-water  mark  of  Catholic  success. 

The  policy  laid  down  in  the  Edict  of  Restitution  meant 
violence  perpetrated  upon  every  Protestant  community  in  the 
land,  and  could  be  carried  through  only  by  an  army.  But 
almost  simultaneously  with  its  adoption  the  emperor  was 
guilty  of  the  fatal  inconsistency  of  weakening  his  forces.  In 
the  year  1630  a  Diet  was  held  at  Ratisbon  (Regensburg) . 
Here  the  long-pent-up  opposition  to  Wallenstein  found  a 
voice.  His  misdemeanors  were  enumerated:  his  army  ex- 
hausted the  country,  weighing  on  Catholic  and  Protestant 
alike,  his  imperial  plans  were  revolutionary,  and  his  personal 
ambition  dangerous  and  boundless.  A  unanimous  cry  went 
up  for  his  dismissal,  which  the  timid  emperor  could  not  face. 
He  deprived  Wallenstein  of  his  command  at  the  very  moment 
when  the  Edict  of  Restitution  for  the  first  time  united  Prot- 
estant opposition  against  him,  and  when  a  new  power  ap- 
peared on  the  scene  to  give  a  new  turn  to  the  war. 


Gustavnjs 
Adolphus 
lands  in  Ger- 
many, July, 
1630. 


The  Swedish  Period  (1630-35). 

In  July,  1630,  Gustavus  Adolphus,  king  of  Sweden, 
landed  on  the  Baltic  coast  at  the  head  of  an  army.  We  have 
seen  that  some  years  before,  when  James  I.  of  England  at- 
tempted to  create  a  great  Protestant  combination,  Gustavus 
had  declined  to  take  a  hand  in  it.  He  was  at  the  time  en- 
gaged in  securing  his  position  on  the  Baltic  against  the  Poles. 
Since  then  Wallenstein's  astonishing  triumph  in  the  north 
had  filled  the  mind  of  the  Swedish  king  with  not  a  little 
alarm.  He  held  the  ambition  of  securing  for  himself  the  first 
place  on  the  Baltic,  of  making,  in  fact,  the  Baltic  a  kind  of 
Swedish  lake,  and  here  was  Wallenstein  apparently  reviving 


And  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  217 

the  defunct  Empire,  carrying  its  banners  into  the  north,  and 
talking  of  launching  a  fleet  upon  the  sea.  Concerned  abottt 
his  safety,  he  resolved  to  enter  the  war  for  the  purpose  of 
driving  the  imperial  forces  out  of  northern  Germany.  But 
there  was  more  than  this  in  the  bold  enterprise  of  Gustavus. 
As  an  ardent  Protestant  he  had  sympathized  from  the  first 
with  the  Protestants  of  Germany,  but  not  till  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Edict  of  Restitution  did  he  feel  that  unless  a  blow 
were  struck  for  it,  Protestantism  in  Germany  was  doomed. 
Thus  Swedish  patriotism  as  well  as  love  of  religion  spurred 
him  to  action.  Did  he  act  selfishly  or  unselfishly?  An  idle 
question  the  present  writer  thinks,  since  human  actions  can- 
not often  be  classified  under  such  simple  categories  as  good 
and  bad,  selfish  and  unselfish.  Naturally,  he  acted  as  was 
demanded  by  his  conception  of  the  interests  of  Sweden.  To 
have  done  otherwise  would  have  been  a  disavowal  of  his  re- 
sponsibilities as  head  of  the  nation.  But  it  was  perfectly 
compatible  with  a  national  policy  to  entertain  also  a  love  of 
the  Protestant  religion.  At  any  rate,  although  he  penetrated 
into  Germany  as  a  conqueror,  he  rescued  German  Protes- 
tantism from  destruction,  and  has  ever  since  been  sung 
and  idolized  by  the  Protestants  of  Germany,  who  have  not 
hesitated  to  associate  his  name  with  that  of  Luther. 

Gustavus  is  the  greatest  figure  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  Gustavus  and 
and  succeeded  during  his  brief  presence  on  the  stage  in  bring- 
ing into  the  barren  struggle  something  of  an  epic  movement. 
Let  us  follow  his  brilliant  course.  His  first  concern  on  land- 
ing in  Germany  was  to  secure  the  alliance  of  the  Protestant 
princes,  for  their  salvation,  together  with  the  safety  of  his 
Swedish  kingdom,  formed  the  double  object  of  his  coming. 
But  here  he  encountered  his  first  difficulties.  The  Protes- 
tant princes  had,  on  account  of  the  Edict  of  Restitution,  lit- 
tle or  no  affection  left  for  the  emperor,  but  they  hesitated 
about  allying  themselves  with  a  foreigner  and  aiding  him  in 


the  Protestant 
princes. 


2l8 


The   Thirty   Years'    War 


Alliance  be- 
tween Sweden 
and  France, 
1631. 


Sack  of 
Magdeburg 
May,  1 63 1. 


getting  a  foothold  in  their  native  land.  WTiile  Gustavus  was 
in  turn  coaxing  and  threatening  them,  help  came  to  him  from 
another  quarter.  We  have  remarked  that  France,  from  an- 
cient enmity  against  the  Hapsburgs,  had  followed  the  Ger- 
man war  with  interest,  but  had  been  unable  to  interfere,  ow- 
ing to  troubles  with  the  Huguenots.  By  1629  these  troubles 
were  dispelled,  and  Richelieu  was  free  to  follow  a  more  vig- 
orous foreign  policy.  His  point  of  view  was  entirely  un- 
trammelled by  religious  considerations,  being  determined 
exclusively  by  his  conception  of  the  interests  of  his  country. 
Imbued  with  the  idea  that  the  thing  needful  was  to  hinder 
the  formation  of  a  strong  power  to  the  east  of  France,  he 
welcomed  with  open  arms  every  enemy  of  the  emperor. 
Gustavus  could  from  the  first  count  on  his  good-will,  which 
in  Januar)',  1631,  took  the  substantial  form  of  an  alliance — • 
the  Treaty  of  Barwalde — wherein  France  agreed  to  pay  the 
king  of  Sweden  a  considerable  annual  subsidy  toward  the 
prosecution  of  the  war.  With  characteristic  caution  Riche- 
lieu would  go  no  further  for  the  present. 

The  first  operations  of  Gusta\'us  were  directed  to  the  re- 
duction of  the  strongholds  of  Pomerania  for  the  purpose  of 
acquiring  a  secure  base  for  his  campaign.  WTiile  he  was  thus 
engaged,  Tilly,  who  since  WaUenstein's  dismissal  was  at  the 
head  of  the  combined  forces  of  the  League  and  emperor, 
stormed  and  utterly  sacked  the  great  Protestant  city  of 
Magdeburg.  The  horror  of  the  terrible  massacre  was 
heightened  by  the  fact  that  the  inhabitants,  in  their  despair, 
themselves  set  fire  to  their  town  in  order  to  bury  themselves 
in  its  ashes.  \Vhen  the  smoke  and  fur\'  had  passed,  the  cathe- 
dral alone  was  seen  solemnly  towering  over  the  ruins.  This 
deed  turned  Protestant  sentiment  more  stronglv  than  ever  to- 
ward  Gustavus,  and  when,  shortlv  after,  Tillv  wantonlv  in- 
vaded  Saxony,  the  elector  of  Saxony,  the  greatest  of  the  Prot- 
estant princes,  put  an  end  to  his  indecision.     Together  with 


And  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  219 


the  elector  of  Brandenburg,  and  followed  by  many  minor   Saxony  and 

...  •  1     o       J  r  •   I  Brandenburg 

princes,  he  entered  into  an  alliance  with  bweden,  which  so  join  Swedeu. 
far  secured  the  hold  of  Gustavus  on  the  north  that  he  was 
able  to  seek  out  Tilly  for  a  decisive  encounter.  In  Sep- 
tember, 163 1,  a  great  battle  took  place  at  Breitenfeld, 
near  Leipsic,  in  which  Swedish  generalship  and  discipline 
astonished  the  world  by  utterly  defeating  the  veteran  army 
of  Tilly. 

The  victory  of  Breitenfeld  laid  all  Germany  at  the  feet  of  Gustavus 
Gustavus.  Never  was  there  a  more  dramatic  change.  The  Quarters  on 
Catholics,  who  a  year  before  had  held  the  reins  in  their  hands,  *^^  ^^'"®- 
were  now  in  exactly  the  same  helpless  position  in  which 
the  Protestants  had  found  themselves.  Gustavus,  received 
everywhere  as  a  deliverer  by  the  Protestants,  marched  with- 
out opposition  straight  across  Germany  to  the  Rhine.  In  the 
episcopal  town  of  Mainz  he  took  up  his  winter  quarters. 
What  more  natural  than  that  in  the  presence  of  a  triumph 
exceeding  all  expectations,  his  plans  should  now  have  soared 
higher?  With  Sweden  safe  and  German  Protestantism  res- 
cued, his  expedition  had  secured  its  original  objects.  But 
as  he  looked  around  and  saw  Germany  helpless  at  his  feet, 
visions  arose  of  himself  as  the  permanent  champion  and 
head  of  the  Protestant  section  of  the  German  people.  The 
ambition  was  tempting,  but  before  he  could  give  it  a  precise 
form  there  was  practical  work  to  do.  As  long  as  Bavaria 
and  the  Hapsburg  lands  were  unconquered,  he  could  not 
hope  to  be  unquestioned  arbiter  in  Germany. 

In  the  spring  of  1632  he  again  took  the  field,  aiming  Gustavus  in 
straight  at  the  country  of  his  enemies.  At  the  river  Lech,  spring,  1632 
Tilly  opposed  him  with  the  remnant  of  his  forces,  only  to 
have  them  annihilated  and  be  himself  killed.  Therewith 
Bavaria  was  at  the  great  Swede's  mercy,  who  now  entered 
its  capital,  Munich,  in  triumph.  His  next  objective,  nat- 
urally, was  Vienna  and  the  emperor.     If  he  could  enter 


220 


The  Thirty   Years'    War 


Wallenstein. 


The  battle  of 
Liitzen,  No- 
vember 1 6, 
1632. 


Death  of 
Gustavus. 


Degeneration 
of  the  war  on 
the  death  of 
Gustavus. 


Vienna,  opposition  would  be  crushed  and  all  Germany  would 
become  his  prize.  In  this  critical  situation  Ferdinand  turned 
to  the  one  man  who  seemed  capable  of  averting  the  final 
doom — Wallenstein.  That  general,  since  his  dismissal,  had 
been  sulking  on  his  estates.  When  Ferdinand's  ambassador 
besought  him  for  aid,  he  affected  indifference,  but  at  length 
allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded  to  collect  an  army  upon 
condition  that  he  should  be  given  unlimited  control.  As 
soon  as  the  famous  leader  floated  his  standards  to  the 
wind,  the  mercenary  soldiery  gathered  round  them. 

In  the  summer  of  1632  Wallenstein  and  Gusta\'us,  the 
two  greatest  generals  of  their  day,  took  the  field  against 
each  other.  After  long,  futile  manoeuvring  around  Nurem- 
berg, the  two  armies  met  for  a  decisive  encounter  at  Liitzen, 
not  far  from  Leipsic  (November,  1632).  After  the  trumpet- 
ers had  sounded  the  hymn  of  Luther,  "A  Mighty  Fortress 
is  our  God,"  and  the  whole  army  had  knelt  in  prayer, 
Gustavus  ordered  the  attack.  The  combat  was  long  and 
fierce,  but  the  Swedes  won  the  day;  they  won,  but  at  a 
terrible  cost.  In  one  of  the  charges  of  horse,  the  impetuosity 
of  Gustavus  had  carried  him  too  far  into  the  ranks  of  the 
enemy,  and  he  was  surrounded  and  slain. 

With  the  death  of  the  king  of  Sweden  all  higher  inter- 
est vanishes  from  the  war.  His  great  achievement  had 
been  this:  he  had  saved  the  cause  of  Protestantism  in  Ger- 
many; that  is,  he  had  saved  a  cause  which,  however  narrow 
and  unattractive  in  some  of  its  manifestations,  was  an  im- 
portant link  in  the  movement  of  human  freedom.  But  he 
left  Germany  in  hopeless  confusion.  The  rage  between 
Protestants  and  Catholics,  now  almost  unappeasable,  was 
complicated  by  the  territorial  greed  of  the  princes,  and  as  if 
such  misery  were  not  enough,  foreign  powers  took  advan- 
tage of  the  impotence  of  the  nation  to  appropriate  some 
of  its  fairest  provinces. 


And  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  221 


On  the  death  of  Gustavus,  Wallenstein  was  the  great  figure  Wallenstein's 
among  the  leaders  of  the  war,  and  Wallenstein,  a  man  not   death,  Febru- 
without  large  views,  resolved  to  strive  for  a  general  pacifica-   ^'^^^  ^^•^4- 
tion  on  the  basis  of  toleration  for  the  Protestants.     As  he 
felt  that  he  could  never  win  the  emperor  and  his  Jesuit 
councillors  to  such  a  plan,  he  proceeded  secretly,  and  thus 
laid  himself  open  to  the  suspicion  of  treason.     If  his  army 
would  have  followed  him  through  thick  and  thin,  he  might 
have  defied  the  emperor,  but  some  loyal  colonels,  shocked 
at  the  idea  of  turning  against  the  head  of  the  state,  formed 
a  conspiracy  against  their  general,  and  in  February,  1634, 
murdered  him  in  the  town  of  Eger,  before  he  had  effected 
any  change  in  the  situation. 

Meanwhile,  the  Swedes  were  doing  their  best  to  retain  the   Swedish  in- 

tcrcsts 

extraordinary  position  which  Gustavus  had  won  for  them,   directed  by 
The  political  direction  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Chancellor  Oxenstiern 
Oxenstiern,  who  ruled  in  the  name  of  Gustavus's  infant 
daughter  Christina,  while  the  military  affairs  were  on  the 
whole  very  creditably  managed  by  various  generals  whom 
Gustavus  had  trained.     But  in  1634  the  Swedes  were  sig- 
nally defeated  by  the  Imperialists  at  Nordlingen  and  had 
to  evacuate  southern  Germany.     With  fortune  smiling  once 
more  on  the  emperor,  he  resolved  to  take  a  really  sincere 
step  toward  peace.     Calamity  had  taught  him  to  moderate   The  emperor 
his  demands,  and  he  declared  to  the  elector  of  Saxony  his  ^ith  the 
willingness  to  sign  with  him  a  treaty  of  peace,  to  which  all   saxony°i63s. 
Protestants  should  be  invited  to  accede,  on  the  basis  of  a 
virtual  withdrawal  of  the  obnoxious  Edict  of  Restitution. 
The  proposition  was  formally  accepted  at  Prague  in  May, 
1635,  and  such  was  the  longing  for  peace,  that  it  was  wel- 
comed,  in    spite    of    its    shortcomings,   by  nearly   all    the 
princes  of  Germany.     If  Germany  had  been  left  to  itself, 
peace  might  now  have  descended  upon  the  harried  land,  but, 
unfortunately,  the  decision  between  peace  and  war  had  by 


222 


The   Thirty   Years    War 


this  time  passed  out  of  German  hands  and  now  lay  with 
those  foreigners  whom  the  division  of  the  Germans  had 
drawn  across  the  border.  It  was  too  late  in  the  day  to  bid 
Sweden  be  gone,  especially  as  France,  after  having  con- 
tented itself  thus  far  with  granting  Sweden  money  aid,  now 
entered  the  struggle  as  a  principal.  The  favorable  hour, 
which  Richelieu  had  patiently  awaited,  had  struck  at  last, 
The  battle  of  Nordlingen,  followed  by  the  Peace  of  Prague, 
had  left  the  Swedes  so  weak  and  isolated  that  they  made 
a  frightened  appeal  to  France.  Richelieu  strengthened  the 
alliance  with  them  and  sent  a  French  army  into  the  field. 
Therewith  the  war  had  entered  a  new  phase. 


Richelieu  in 
alliance  with 
Sweden  and 
the  Dutch 
against  the 
two  branches 
of  Hapsburg. 


The  French 
and  Swedish 
plan  of  cam- 
paign. 


The  French  Period  (1635-48). 

From  now  on  the  war  was  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  the 
allies,  Protestant  Sweden  and  Catholic  France,  to  effect  a 
permanent  lodgment  in  Germany.  The  word  religion  was 
still  bandied  about,  but  it  had  no  longer  any  meaning. 
Richelieu's  opportunity  to  weaken  the  House  of  Hapsburg 
had  come,  for  which  reason,  while  he  attacked  it  in  Germany, 
he  resolved  also  to  face  that  branch  of  it  established  in  Spain. 
The  Spanish  Hapsburgs  were  at  that  time  involved  with  the 
Dutch  Republic,  the  old  stniggle  having  been  renewed  in 
1 62 1.  In  the  very  year  (1635)  in  which  Richelieu  entered 
the  German  war,  he  formed  a  close  union  with  the  Dutch 
and  declared  war  against  Spain.  Thus  the  leading  aspect  of 
the  Thirty  Years'  War  in  its  last  phase  is  that  of  an  immense 
international  struggle  of  the  two  Houses  of  Hapsburg  and 
their  friends  against  the  House  of  Bourbon  and  such  allies 
as  it  could  muster. 

The  German  campaigns  of  the  French  Period  consist  of 
a  patient  forward  thrust  across  the  Rhine  on  the  part  of 
Fiance,  and  a  steady  movement  southward  from  the  Baltic 


And  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  223 


on  the  part  of  Sweden.  The  object  of  the  alUes  was  tc 
crush  the  emperor  between  them.  It  remains  a  matter  of 
astonishment  that  that  sovereign,  exhausted  as  he  was  and 
ill-supported  by  the  German  people,  who  had  fallen  into  a 
mortal  languor,  should  have  made  so  stubborn  a  resistance. 
In  the  early  years  he  even  won  some  notable  successes.  But 
year  after  year  the  French  and  Swedes  fastened  upon  his 
flanks  and  with  each  season  he  found  it  more  difhcult  to 
shake  them  off.  The  nation  meanwhile,  sucked  dry  by  a 
soldiery  which  had  grown  insensible  to  every  appeal  of  justice 
and  pity,  was  dying  by  inches.  The  cities  fell  into  decay,  The  long 
the  country  became  a  desert.  In  view  of  the  certainty  that  Cermany 
the  product  of  labor  would  become  the  booty  of  marauders, 
nobody  cared  to  work.  So  the  people  fell  into  idleness, 
were  butchered,  or  died  of  hunger  or  of  pestilence.  The 
only  profession  which  afforded  security  and  a  livelihood  was 
that  of  the  soldier,  and  soldier  meant  robber  and  murderer. 
Armies,  therefore,  became  mere  bands  organized  for  pillage, 
and  marched  up  and  down  the  country,  followed  by  immense 
hordes  of  starved  camp-followers,  women  and  children,  who 
hoped,  in  this  way,  to  get  a  sustenance  which  they  could  not 
find  at  home. 

Accumulated  disaster  finally  brought  the  emperor  to  terms.   French  and 

,      ,,  Swedish  VIC 

The  forces  of  France  had  been  growmg  gradually  stronger  tories  bring 
and  stronger,  and  under  the  leadership  of  the  fiery  prince  1^^,^^^™^ 
of  Conde  and  the  gifted  strategist  Turenne  penetrated  far 
into  southern  Germany.  The  honors  of  the  last  campaigns 
rested  entirely  with  them.  The  emperor  saw  that  it  was 
useless  to  attempt  to  turn  these  strangers  from  the  gates, 
and  accepted  the  decree  of  fate.  But  it  was  not  Ferdi- 
nand II.  who  bared  his  head  to  receive  the  blow.  He 
had  been  succeeded,  on  his  death  in  1637,  by  his  son, 
Ferdinand  III.  (1637-57),  who  opened  negotiations  with 
France  and  Sweden,  and  after  wearisome  delays,  brought 


224 


TJie   TJiirty   Years'   War 


The  main  sub- 
heads of  the 
Peace  of 
Westphalia. 


Cessions  made 
to  Sweden 
and  France. 


Dispute  about 
Church  lands 
settled  in 
favor  of  the 
Protestants. 


them  to  a  successful  termination  in  1648,  in  the  Treaty  of 
Westphaha.^ 

The  Peace  of  Westphalia  is,  from  the  variety  of  matter 
which  it  treats,  one  of  the  most  important  documents  in 
history.  First,  it  determined  what  territorial  compensa- 
tion France  and  Sweden  were  to  have  in  Germany  for 
their  victories  over  the  emperor;  second,  it  laid  a  new  basis 
for  the  peace  between  Protestants  and  Catholics;  and  third, 
it  authorized  an  important  political  readjustment  of  Ger^ 
many.     All  these  points  will  be  considered  separately. 

As  to  the  first  point,  Sweden  received  the  western  half 
of  Pomerania,  and  the  bishoprics  of  Bremen  and  Verden. 
By  these  possessions  she  was  put  in  control  of  the  mouths  of 
the  rivers  Oder,  Elbe,  and  Weser,  and  therewith  of  a  good 
part  of  the  ocean  commerce  of  Germany.  France  was  con- 
firmed in  the  possession  of  the  bishoprics  of  Metz,  Toul,  and 
Verdun,  which  she  had  acquired  under  Henry  II.  (1552), 
and  received,  in  addition,  Alsace,  securing  therewith  a  foot- 
hold on  the  upper  Rhine.  The  free  city  of  Strasburg,  how^ 
ever,  was  expressly  excluded  from  this  cession. 

Turning  to  the  second  head,  the  great  question  was  how 
to  settle  the  seizures  of  Church  property  which  the  Prot- 
estants had  made  since  the  Peace  of  Augsburg.  The  Catho- 
lics, it  will  be  remembered,  had  always  held  that  these 
seizures  were  illegal,  and  by  the  Edict  of  Restitution  of 
1629  the  emperor  had  ordered  their  surrender  to  the  Ro- 
man Church.  In  the  peace  negotiations  the  Protestants  de- 
manded that  their  brethren  in  the  faith  be  restored  to  all  the 
possessions  which  they  held  in  1618,  the  year  when  the  war 
broke  out,  but  they  compromised  at  last  on  the  year  1624. 
Whatever  was  in  Protestant  hands  on  the  first  of  January  of 


^  The  Peace  of  Westphalia  receives  its  name  from  the  province  of  West- 
phalia on  the  Rhine,  embracing  the  two  cities  of  Miinster  and  Osnabriick, 
in  which  the  plenipotentiaries  of  the  powers  met. 


And  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  225 


that  year  was  to  remain  Protestant;  what  was  in  Catholic 
hands  was  to  be  reserved  to  the  Catholics.  This  settled  the 
question  of  the  disputed  lands  in  the  main  in  the  Protestant 
interest,  but  involved  a  concession  to  the  emperor  in  so  far 
as  it  sacrificed  Bohemia  to  Catholicism.  Concerning  Cal- 
vinism no  further  difficulty  was  made,  for  the  faith  was  put, 
in  the  eyes  of  the  law,  on  the  same  footing  as  Lutheranism. 

Under  the  third  head  it  is  necessary  to  note  a  variety  Political  di^- 
of  political  and  territorial  changes  within  Germany.  First,  Germany. 
the  princes  were  given  a  number  of  new  sovereign  rights, 
among  others  the  right  of  forming  alliances  with  each 
other  and  with  foreign  powers.  Therewith  the  decentral- 
ization of  Germany  was  completed,  and  the  single  states 
made  as  good  as  independent.  If  the  emperor  was  weak 
before,  he  was  now  no  more  than  the  honorary  president 
of  a  congress  of  sovereign  powers.  Of  three  of  these  con- 
stituent states  of  the  Empire,  the  Palatinate,  Bavaria,  and 
Brandenburg,  a  word  remains  to  be  said.  The  Palatinate,  The 
which  the  emperor  had  confiscated  in  the  early  stages  of 
the  war,  was  restored  in  a  mutilated  condition  to  the  son 
of  the  elector  and  winter  king  of  Bohemia,  Frederick.  At 
the  same  time  this  son  was  recognized  as  the  eighth  elector, 
for  the  dignity  which  had  been  transferred  to  the  duke  of 
Bavaria  was  not  restored.  Bavaria,  under  its  elector,  Max-  Bavaria, 
imilian,  had  played  the  most  effective  part  of  any  Ger- 
man principality  in  the  war,  and  its  increase  in  power  was 
in  strict  accordance  with  merit.  From  this  on  Bavaria 
aspired  to  the  leadership  in  southern  Germany,  while 
the  leadership  of  northern  Germany  was,  as  a  result  of  the 
Peace  of  Westphalia,  practically  secured  to  the  elector  of 
Brandenburg.  Brandenburg  received  additions  of  territory  Brandenburg. 
— eastern  Pomerania  and  four  bishoprics — constituting  a 
possession  so  considerable  as  to  enable  it  to  replace  Saxony 
at  the  head  of  Protestant  Germany  and  to  give  it  a  position 


Palatinate. 


226 


The   TJiirty   Years    War 


Switzerland 
and  the 
Netherlands. 


Effect  of  the 
war  on  Ger- 
many. 


second  only  to  that  of  Austria.  From  this  on  the  rebirth  of 
Germany  would  depend  on  the  ability  of  some  one  prince  or 
line  of  princes  to  accomplish  the  task  of  unification  wherein 
the  emperor  had  failed.  The  fate  ruling  nations  assigned 
this  task  to  the  House  of  Brandenburg,  which  achieved  it 
by  steps  forming  henceforth  the  leading  interest  of  German 
history. 

As  a  last  curious  detail  it  may  be  added  that  Switzerland 
and  the  Dutch  Netherlands  (Seven  United  Provinces),  which 
had  once  been  members  of  the  Empire,  but  had  long  ago 
won  a  practical  independence,  were  formally  declared  sov- 
ereign and  free  from  any  obligations  to  that  body. 

Germany,  after  her  insufferable  crisis,  lay  insensible  and 
exhausted.  Perhaps  the  contemporary  stories  of  the  ruin 
done  by  the  war  are  exaggerated;  in  any  case  it  is  certain 
that  the  country  took  more  than  a  hundred  years  to  recover 
from  its  disasters.  In  some  respects,  doubtless,  it  has  only 
lately  recovered  from  them.  The  simple  fact  is,  that  the 
material  edifice  of  civilization,  together  with  most  of  the 
moral  and  intellectual  savings  of  an  ancient  society,  had  been 
destroyed,  and  what  was  left  was  barbarism.  The  genera- 
tion which  survived  the  war  had  grown  up  without  schools, 
almost  without  pastors  and  churches,  and  to  its  mental  and 
moral  deadness  it  added,  owing  to  the  long  rule  of  force,  a 
disdain  for  all  simple  and  honest  occupations.  Respecting 
the  disaster  wrought  by  the  war,  figures  help  us  to  realize 
the  terrible  situation.  Augsburg,  the  great  southern  centre 
of  trade,  had  had  80,000  inhabitants;  the  war  reduced  the 
city  to  a  provincial  town  of  16,000.  Thousands  of  villages 
were  destroyed,  whole  districts  were  depopulated.  In  Bran- 
denburg one  could  travel  days  without  meeting  a  peasant; 
in  Saxony  bands  of  wolves  took  possession  of  the  empty 
villages.  In  general,  the  population  of  Germany  fell  from 
one-half  to  one-third  of  the  numbers  before  the  war. 


And  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  227 


The  Peace  of  Westphalia  dealt  with  so  many  matters,  not  The  Peace  of 

,-   .  •         1    •    ..         i     iU    4-    -t    Westphalia 

only  of  German  but  also  of  mternational  mterest,  that  it  closes  the 
may  be  looked  upon  as  the  basis  of  European  public  law  {^^[J,"'^^  ^^J^s' 
till  the  French  Revolution.  We  may  also  take  it  to  mark 
a  turning-point  in  the  destinies  of  civilization.  From  the 
time  of  Luther  the  chief  interest  of  Europe  had  been  the 
question  of  religion.  Europe  was  divided  into  two  camps, 
Catholicism  and  Protestantism,  which  opposed  each  other 
with  all  their  might.  In  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  the  two 
parties  recorded  what  they  had  gradually  been  learning — 
which  was,  that  such  a  fight  was  futile,  and  that  it  was  the 
part  of  wisdom  to  put  up  with  each  other.  Almost  imper- 
ceptibly men's  minds  had  grown  more  tolerant,-  even  if  the 
laws  were  not  always  so,  and  this  is,  when  all  is  said,  the  more 
satisfactory  progress.  The  best  proof  of  the  improved  state 
of  the  European  mind  toward  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century  is  offered  by  the  practical  application  of  this  very 
peace  instrument.     The  toleration  there  granted  was  merely  The  principle 

,.  .iiii'-ru-      of  toleration. 

of  the  old  kind— each  prmce  could  settle  the  religion  ot  his 
principality  without  any  obligation  of  tolerating  dissidents — 
yet,  persecution  of  individuals  was  henceforth  the  exception, 
and  not  the  rule.  It  would  be  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  the 
principle  of  toleration  had  now  been  conquered  for  humanity, 
or  that  the  squabbles  for  religion's  sake  ceased  in  the  world, 
but  it  may  be  asserted,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that 
toleration  had  won  with  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  a  definite 
recognition  among  the  cultured  classes.  During  the  next 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  the  principle  filtered  gradually, 
through  the  literary  labor  of  many  noble  thinkers,  to  the 
lowest  strata  of  society,  and  became  in  the  era  of  the  French 
Revolution  a  possession  of  all  mankind. 


/ 


PART  II 
THE   ABSOLUTE    MONARCHY 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   STUARTS   AND   THE   PURITAN   REVOLUTION 

References:  Gardiner,  Student's  History  of  England,  pp. 
481-649;  Gardiner,  The  Puritan  Revolution  (Epochs); 
Green,  Short  History  of  the  English  People,  Chapters 
VIII.,  IX.;  Terry,  History  of  England,  pp.  618-805; 
Gardiner,  Historj^  of  England  from  the  Accession  of 
James  I.  to  the  Civil  War  (1603-42),  10  vols,  (this, 
with  the  two  subsequent  works,  is  the  leading  contri- 
bution to  our  knowledge  of  the  period) ;  Gardiner,  His- 
tory of  the  Civil  War  (1642-49),  4  vols.;  Gardiner, 
History  of  the  Commonwealth  and  the  Protectorate 
(1649-60),  4  vols.;  Gardiner,  Oliver  Cromwell;  Firth, 
Oliver  Cromwell;  Morley,  Oliver  Cromwell;  Carlyle, 
Cromwell's  Letters  and  Speeches;  Airy,  English  Res- 
toration and  Louis  XIV.;  Traill,  Social  England,  Vol. 
IV.  (general  information  on  English  society). 

Source  Readings:  Gardiner,  Constitutional  Documents  of 
the  Puritan  Revolution  (1625-60)  (contains  all  the  im- 
portant documents  of  the  period);  Gee  and  Hardy, 
Documents  Illustrative  of  English  Church  History; 
Adams  and  Stephens,  Select  Documents,  Nos.  181-238; 
Colby,  Selections  from  the  Sources,  Part  VI.;  Pepys, 
Diary,  4  vols.  (cd.  Braybrooke);  Evelyn,  Diary,  4  vols, 
(ed.  Bray)  (this,  as  well  as  Pepys's  work,  gives  a  vivid 
impression  of  the  time);  Robinson,  Readings,  Vol.  II., 
Chapter  XXX. 

When  Elizabeth  died  in  March,  1603,  she  was  succeeded  The  Scottish 
by  the  son  of  Mary  Stuart,  who  had  been  king  of  Scotland   ki"^  of  E^g^-' 
almost  from  his  birth  under  the  name  of  James  VI.,  and  fig-   ^^"'^■ 
ures  among  English  monarchs  as  the  first  of  that  name. 

231 


232      The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution 


Character  of 
James. 


His  concepn 
tion  of  his 
office. 


This  accession  opened  the  prospect  of  an  effective  union  be- 
tween England  and  Scotland,  which  a  few  far-sighted  states- 
men had  long  advocated.  However,  the  plan  encountered 
opposition.  So  deep-rooted  were  the  long-standing  antag- 
onisms and  jealousies  of  the  two  nations  that  they  refused 
to  consolidate  their  institutions  and  fortunes,  though  James 
himself  gave  his  ardent  adhesion  to  the  plan.  In  conse- 
quence, Scotland  kept  its  own  Parliament  and  officials,  and 
the  accession  of  James  did  nothing  more  for  the  present  than 
give  England  and  Scotland  a  common  sovereign. 

It  was  unfortunate  that  at  a  time  when  the  sovereign  exer- 
cised enormous  power  the  crown  should  have  descended  to 
such  a  man  as  James.  He  had  an  ungainly  figure,  a  shuf- 
fling gait,  distasteful  personal  habits,  and  was  obstinate, 
weak,  and  cowardly.  A  person  less  royal  to  look  upon  had 
not  sat  upon  the  English  throne  in  many  a  centur)^  He  had 
crammed  himself  with  a  considerable  stock  of  knowledge, 
which  had  not  matured  into  wisdom,  and  which  he  prided 
himself  on  exhibiting  upon  every  occasion  in  order  to  hear 
himself  acclaimed  by  the  flattering  courtiers  as  the  British 
Solomon.  His  display  of  pedantic  information  brought 
down  upon  him  from  Henr}'  IV.  of  France  the  remark  that 
he  was  the  wisest  fool  of  Christendom. 

All  this  would  have  merely  exposed  him  to  more  or  less 
amiable  ridicule  if  he  had  not  made  himself  really  dangerous 
by  holding  the  most  exaggerated  idea  of  his  royal  office.  It 
was  he  who  first  carried  into  English  politics  the  theory  of 
the  Divine  Right  of  kings.  The  English  Constitution,  which 
had  grown  from  the  seed  of  Magna  Charta,  vested  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  realm  in  king  and  Parliament.  Such  was 
the  system  at  the  end  of  the  War  of  the  Roses.  During  the 
Tudor  Period  the  Parliament  had  been  eclipsed  by  the  king 
but  was  by  no  means  abolished.  Its  rights,  which  were 
partly  in  abeyance,  might  be  reassumed,  and  probably  would 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution     233 


be  at  the  moment  when  the  sovereign  wantonly  provoked 
the  nation.  And  that  was  exactly  what  James  did.  Not 
content  with  the  suhstance  of  absolutism,  which  he  inherited 
from  the  Tudors,  he  desired  also  the  name  of  it,  and  asserted 
his  claims  in  terms  so  boundless  that  he  seemed  almost  to  be 
making  a  business  of  rousing  opposition.  On  one  occasion 
he  edified  his  hearers  with  the  following  typical  pronounce- 
ment: "It  is  atheism  and  blasphemy  to  dispute  what  God 
can  do;  ...  so  it  is  presumption  and  high  contempt  in  a 
subject  to  dispute  what  a  king  can  do,  or  say  that  a  king 
cannot  do  this  or  that."  The  Tudors,  as  has  been  said, 
held  a  similar  theory,  but  they  came  at  the  time  of  a  great 
national  crisis  and  acted  in  the  main  in  close  harmony  with 
the  people.  If  James  undertook  to  act  against  the  people 
and  their  real  or  supposed  interests,  he  might  find  his  position 
challenged,  and  drive  the  nation  to  take  refuge  in  the  older  . 
conception  of  monarchy  which  the  Tudor  absolutism  had 
supplanted.  This  development  James  brought  about,  pre- 
cipitating thereby  a  struggle  between  himself  and  his  people, 
based  on  two  different  conceptions  of  the  English  kingship. 

The  accession  of   James  occurred  amid  circumstances  The  foreign 
which  augured  a  happy  reign.     The  defeat  of  the  Spanish  situation  at 
Armada  had  placed  the  independence  of  England  beyond  JeJ^£^^' 
question,  and  subsequent  events  had  so  weakened  Spain  as 
to  remove  all  danger  from  that  quarter.     In  consequence, 
James  wisely  inaugurated  his  rule  by  a  favorable  treaty  of 
peace.     In  domestic  affairs  the  great  question  was.  What 
would  be  the  attitude  of  James  toward  the  Anglican  Church, 
established  by  Elizabeth  on  the  basis  of  the  Acts  of  Suprem- 
acy and  Uniformity  (1559)  ?    At  her  death  her  creation  had 
acquired  an  air  of  permanence.     The  Catholics  were  a  wan- 
ing power,  and  the  Puritans,  who  inclined  toward  Calvinistic 
views,  called  for  onlv  a  few  concessions,  based  chieflv  on 
their  aversion  to  the  surplice,  kneeling  in  service,  and  similar 


tiie  Puritans. 


234      The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritatt  Revolution 

externals.  It  must  be  remembered  that  they  were  as  yet 
very  friendly  to  the  national  Church,  accepted  the  religious 
headship  of  the  sovereign  and  the  Episcopal  form  of  govern- 
ment, and  merely  believed  in  the  simplification  or  purifica- 
tion, as  they  called  it,  of  divine  service.  If  James  would 
know  how  to  conciliate  them,  the  religious  troubles  of  Eng 
land  might  be  accounted  as  over. 
James  and  But  James  did  not  know  how  to  conciliate  them.     Shortly 

after  his  accession  in  1604  he  called  a  conference  at  Hamp- 
ton Court  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  a  document  they  had 
sent  in,  called  the  Millenary  Petition,  from  the  fact  that  a 
thousand  clergymen  were  supposed  to  have  adhered  to  it. 
Unfortunately,  he  lost  his  temper  during  the  debate  and 
flared  up  wildly  against  the  Puritans.  He  declared  that 
they  were  secret  enemies  of  Episcopacy — which  they  were 
not — and  affirmed  with  unnecessary  emphasis  that  that 
system  of  Church  government  had  his  entire  support.  His 
personal  venom  becomes  explicable  when  we  remember  that 
he  had  been  brought  up  in  Scotland,  where  he  had  made 
the  acquaintance  of  the  Presbyterian  system,  by  which  the 
Church  was  withdrawn  from  the  control  of  the  king  and 
bishops  and  put  in  the  hands  of  the  ministers  and  the  people. 
In  England  he  was  delighted  by  the  discovery  that  the 
sovereign  ruled  the  Church  through  the  bishops,  and  was 
jealously  on  the  lookout  against  the  importation  of  Presby- 
terian ideas.  The  cause  of  the  bishops  he  identified  with 
his  own  cause,  and  formulated  his  belief  in  the  epigrammatic 
assertion,  "  No  bishop,  no  king."  Now  the  Puritans  were 
emphatically  not  Presbyterians,  but  because  they  advocated 
a  few  changes  savoring  of  radicalism  James  chose  to  regard 
them  as  such.  Acting  on  this  assumption  he  dismissed  the 
petitioners  at  Hampton  Court  gruffly,  and  shortly  after 
ordered  every  clergyman  who  refused  to  meet  exactly  and 
literally  the  prescriptions  of  the  Book  of  Common  Praye' 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution     23s 


to  be  removed  from  his  living.  In  this  way  the  king  made  it 
clear  that  his  manner  of  conciliating  the  Puritan  opposition 
was  to  drive  it  from  the  Church. 

Toward  the  Catholics,  whom  James  regarded  with  a  tol-  The  gun 

,     .  ,  ....  ,       r  n  J       i  powder  plot, 

erance  much  m  advance  of  his  time,  he  followed  a  temper-  1605. 
ate  but  unsuccessful  policy.  He  began  by  holding  out  a 
prospect  of  lightening  the  burden  of  persecution,  but  when 
he  failed  to  carry  out  his  promises,  owing  to  the  pressure 
brought  to  bear  upon  him  by  his  Protestant  subjects,  a 
group  of  desperate  Catholics,  enraged  beyond  endurance  by 
the  withdrawal  of  the  one  ray  of  hope  which  had  shone  upon 
them  in  many  a  day,  planned  to  destroy  the  whole  Protestant 
government,  king.  Lords,  and  Commons,  by  one  gigantic 
stroke.  They  heaped  gunpowder  in  barrels  in  the  cellars 
beneath  the  House  of  Lords,  and  set  November  5,  1605 — the 
day  of  the  opening  in  state  of  a  new  session — for  the  mon- 
strous crime.  Suspicion,  however,  had  been  awakened 
through  a  letter  of  warning  sent  by  a  conspirator  to  a  relative 
who  was  a  member  of  the  upper  house;  and  luckily,  on  the 
very  eve  of  the  planned  disaster,  Guy  Fawkes,  the  hardiest 
of  the  conspirators,  was  discovered  keeping  watch  among  the 
explosives.  He  and  his  helpmates  were  hunted  down  and 
executed  with  all  the  barbarity  characteristic  of  the  period, 
and  the  English  people  were  once  more  confirmed  in  that 
intense  hatred  and  distrust  of  the  Catholic  faith  which  long 
remained  the  first  article  of  their  religious  and  political  creed. 

Such  was  the  relation  of  James  to  the  religious  question —  James's  second 
the  ritualistic  wing  of  the  national  Church  was  vigorously  the  Par^ 
sustained,  the  Puritan  or  reform  wing  was  opposed  and  I'^ment. 
insulted,  and  the  Catholics,  not  without  a  decent  reluctance, 
were  persecuted  and  crushed.     However,  the  situation  would 
not  have  become  desperate,   if  James  had  not  created  a 
second  difficulty  by  antagonizing  his  Parliament.     To  un- 
derstand the  development  of  that  conflict,  we  have  but  to 


236     The  Stuarts  a)id  the  Puritan  Revolution 


The  question 
of  the  finances. 


Impeachment 
of  Bacon, 
1621. 


remember  that  to  the  practical  absolutism  of  the  Tudors, 
to  which  he  had  fallen  heir,  he  wished  to  give  the  force  of 
theory  and  of  law. 

The  quarrel  began  almost  immediately.  James  needed 
money,  partly  for  legitimate  expenses,  partly  because  he  was 
extravagant.  The  required  revenues  had,  of  course,  to  be 
voted  by  Parliament,  and  if  that  body  had  been  managed 
after  the  Tudor  fashion,  it  would  have  granted  supplies  as 
readily  as  in  the  days  of  Henry  or  Elizabeth.  But  James's 
talk  about  a  m.onarch  being  above  the  law  had  aroused  sus- 
picion, and  the  Parliament  delayed.  The  king,  thereupon, 
in  a  huff,  began  to  help  himself  by  arbitrarily  increasing  the 
duty  imposed  on  certain  articles  of  import  and  export. 
This  is  called  the  question  of  the  impositions.  When  a 
merchant  named  Bate  refused  to  pay,  he  was  arrested,  tried, 
and  sentenced  by  the  judges.  Thus  James  triumphed,  but 
the  victory  only  added  a  limited  amount  to  his  revenue, 
did  not  settle  the  financial  difficulties,  and  exasperated  the 
Parliament  so  greatly  that  it  prepared  to  oppose  every  de- 
mand, reasonable  or  unreasonable,  which  the  king  might 
make.  The  result  was  that  James  dissolved  one  Parliament 
only  to  find  its  successor  still  more  unwilling  to  bow  to  his 
dictation.  Out  of  what  was  originally  a  simple  matter  of 
supplying  revenue  for  the  crown's  outlay,  had  grown  by 
James's  mism^anagement  an  issue,  at  the  core  of  which  was, 
as  everybody  began  to  see,  the  all-important  question  of 
who  controlled  the  resources  of  the  country,  the  king  or  the 
Parliament.  From  that  to  the  question  of  which  was  the 
stronger  of  the  two  was  but  a  step,  and  that  step  might 
mean  war. 

Over  this  issue  and  others  coupled  with  it  James  quar- 
relled with  his  Parliament  throughout  his  reign,  with  the 
result  of  an  increasing  irritation  on  both  sides.  In  the  year 
162 1  the  wrath  of  the  Commons  reached  the  point  of  a 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution     237 


savage  attack  on  the  whole  administration,  culminating  in 
the  impeachment  of  the  highest  judge  in  the  realm,  the 
Lord  Chancellor.  This  was  none  other  than  the  philosopher 
Francis  Bacon,  one  of  the  greatest  Englishmen  of  that  or  any 
age.  By  taking  fees  from  suitors  while  their  cases  were  still 
pending  before  him,  he  had  become  technically  guilty  of 
bribery.  His  excuse  was  that  the  acceptance  of  gifts  was  a 
long-established  custom  of  his  office,  but  with  the  candor  we 
might  expect  from  such  a  soul,  he  avowed  that  the  practice 
was  indefensible.  "I  beseech  your  Lordships,"  he  added, 
"  to  be  merciful  to  a  broken  reed."  Bacon  was  fined  and  dis- 
missed from  office,  the  sentence  being  declared  by  himself 
"just,  and  for  reformation's  sake  fit,"  but  his  disgrace  would 
never  have  befallen  him  if  he  had  not  stood  near  the  king, 
and  the  Parliament  had  not  been  set  on  reaching  the  mon- 
arch through  his  servants. 

Bacon's  trial  took  the  form  of  an  impeachment,  in  itself  an  The  revivai 

,,_,,.  ...  ,    .  of  impeach- 

ommous  sign  that  the  Parliament  was  raising  its  own  claims  ment. 
as  the  best  answer  to  the  king's  attempt  to  exalt  his  position. 
Impeachment  was  a  means  by  which,  in  earlier  times,  the 
Parliament  had  exercised  control  of  the  king's  advisers,  but 
which  had  become  obsolete  under  the  Tudors,  when  the 
humbled  Parliament  was  obliged  to  abandon  all  influence 
upon  the  royal  ministers.  Its  revival  at  this  juncture  meant 
that  the  Parliament  was  furbishing  up  the  old  weapons  with 
which  it  had  once  held  the  monarchy  in  check.  An  im- 
peachment was  a  somewhat  complicated  process.  The 
House  of  Commons  appeared  at  the  bar  of  the  House  of 
Lords  to  present  to  it  the  offender  against  the  common- 
wealth, and  the  House  of  Lords,  after  listening  to  the  charges, 
decided  whether  they  were  founded  or  unfounded  and 
pronounced  sentence  accordingly.  The  bearing  of  the  im- 
peachment of  Bacon  was  not  lost  upon  James,  who  vaguely 
divined  that  a  serious  struggle  was  at  hand. 


238     The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution 


James's  for- 
eign policy. 


Charles  and 
Buckingham 
iournev  to 
Madrid. 


The  unpopularity  caused  by  his  treatment  of  the  Puritans 
and  his  quarrel  with  the  Parliament  was  increased  by  the 
foreign  policy  of  James.  We  have  remarked  that  almost 
immediately  on  his  accession  he  had  concluded  peace  with 
Spain.  Not  satisfied  with  this,  he  resolved  to  further  the 
cause  of  religious  peace  in  Europe  by  maintaining  a  close 
friendship  with  his  late  enemy.  But  such  a  policy,  credit- 
able to  his  Christian  temper,  would  depend  for  its  success 
on  Spain's  willingness  to  meet  him  half-way.  The  test  came 
in  the  year  1618.  In  that  year  occurred  the  Bohemian 
incident,  which  led  to  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  James  was 
interested  in  that  famous  struggle  not  only  because  Protes- 
tantism once  more  locked  horns  with  Catholicism,  but  also 
more  immediately  because  Frederick  of  the  Palatinate,  elect- 
ed king  of  the  Protestant  faction  of  Bohemia,  had  married 
his  daughter  Elizabeth.  In  spite  of  these  circumstances, 
however,  he  permitted  Frederick  to  be  driven  out  of  Bohemia, 
and  only  when  Frederick  was  expelled  from  the  Palatinate, 
too,  was  his  father-in-law  roused  sufficiently  to  make  a  weak 
appeal  to  Spain  for  help.  That  power  was  delighted  to  find 
him  so  docile,  made  temporizing  proposals,  but  was  at  heart 
too  glad  of  the  Catholic  success  in  Germany  to  do  anything 
to  check  it. 

Thus  matters  dragged  on  until  the  year  1623,  when  the 
young  and  handsome  duke  of  Buckingham,  who  was  the 
king's  all-powerful  favorite,  proposed  to  take  a  last  step  to 
bind  Spain  to  England  in  a  close  alliance  and  to  secure 
the  settlement  of  the  Palatinate  difficulty  without  war.  He 
developed  the  plan  of  a  secret  journey  with  Charles,  the 
prince  of  Wales,  to  Madrid  in  order  to  take  the  Spanish 
court,  as  it  were,  by  storm,  persuade  it  to  affiance  the  Spanish 
Infanta  to  the  English  heir,  and  cajole  it  into  signing  the 
desired  treaty  of  alliance.  It  was  a  plan  as  hair-brained  as 
it  was  impolitic,  but  James,  teased  and  wheedled  by  the  two 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution      239 


young  men,  at  last  gave  his  blessing  to  the  enterprise.  After 
many  adventures  Charles  and  Buckingham  arrived  at  Ma- 
drid, but  their  reception  was  very  different  from  what  they 
had  anticipated,  and  their  hosts,  although  scrupulously  po- 
lite, met  them  with  evasion  at  every  point.  Utterly  disgusted, 
they  came  back  resolved  to  break  with  the  useless  policy  of 
peace.  James  was  plied  till  he  consented  to  declare  war 
against  Spain,  but  died  in  March,  1625,  before  anything  had 
been  done. 
The  reign  of  Tames  opens  a  significant  chapter  in  English   American 

.   ,    .  .  .        .         .  ,        r     .  ^    -n      ^-  u    colonization. 

colonial  history,  for  in  1607  the  first  permanent  Lnghsh 
settlement  was  planted  in  Virginia,  and  in  1620  the  first 
band  of  radical  Puritans,  who  had  severed  their  connection 
with  the  Anglican  Church  and  had  at  first  taken  refuge  from 
persecution  in  Holland,  set  out  across  the  Atlantic.  From 
the  valiant  labor  of  these  and  subsequent  bands  of  English- 
men who  presently  followed  the  Virginia  and  New  England 
pioneers  into  the  wildernesses  of  America,  developed  in 
time  a  number  of  prosperous  colonies,  the  germs  of  that 
society  which  in  the  next  century  became  the  United  States 
of  America.  Furthermore,  in  161 2  the  East  India  Com-  India, 
pany,  which  had  been  chartered  under  Elizabeth,  secured 
its  first  foothold  in  India.  Thus,  as  soon  as  the  victories  of 
Elizabeth's  reign  had  cleared  the  way,  the  Anglo-Saxon  race 
planted  the  seeds  of  its  expansion  in  the  east  and  west,  and 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  English  commercial  supremacy 
of  our  day. 

Reign  of  Charles  I.  (1625-49). 

Charles  I.,  who  succeeded  James  in  the  year  1625,  was  Charles  I. 
outwardly  very  unlike  his  father.     His  face,  familiar  to  us 
from  Van  Dyck's  frequent  reproductions,  was  handsome 
and  his  manner  kingly.      Unfortunately  he  was  liberally 
endowed  with   the   Stuart   traits  of  perversity  and  obsti- 


240      The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution 


Charles  con- 
tinues to  an- 
tagonize 
Puritans  and 
Parliament. 


Tiie  rising 
tide  of  Prot- 
estant fervor. 


The  party 
cleavage. 


nacy  and  shared  his  father's  exaggerated  views  of  the  royal 
prerogative. 

The  two  main  difl&culties  created  by  James  bore  im- 
mediate and  dangerous  fruit  in  the  new  reign.  James  had 
roused  the  slumbering  Puritanism  of  his  subjects,  and  had 
raised  the  question  with  his  Parliament  as  to  who  controlled 
taxation.  Charles,  by  persisting  in  James's  course  of  hostil- 
ity to  Puritans  and  Parliament,  succeeded  in  an  incredibly 
short  time  in  developing  the  prejudices  of  his  people  into  a 
violent  opposition  to  himself,  and  in  arousing  the  Commons, 
who  had  been  servilely  docile  under  Elizabeth  and,  even 
while  protesting,  had  been  deeply  respectful  under  James,  to 
the  point  where  they  plainly  put  the  question:  Who  was 
sovereign  in  England,  Parliament  or  king? 

Shortlv  after  his  accession  Charles  married  Henrietta 
Maria,  a  sister  of  Louis  XIII.  of  France.  This  marriage 
with  a  Catholic  was  extremely  unpopular  in  England,  and 
was  rendered  doubly  so  by  the  suspicion,  only  too  well 
founded,  that  Charles  had  entered  upon  an  agreement  with 
Louis  to  offer  the  English  Catholics  his  protection.  When 
Parliament  assembled,  it  showed  immediately  signs  of  restless- 
ness, and  presently  grew  still  more  excited  on  becoming  aware 
that  a  small  party  of  churchmen,  closely  associated  with  the 
court,  were  advocating  views  that  seemed  to  savor  of  Ro- 
manism. These  men  were  extreme  ritualists,  and  were  not 
favorable  to  Calvinistic  views,  being  especially  inclined  to 
question  the  great  doctrine  of  predestination.  The  king, 
by  natural  preference,  supported  them;  and  they,  to  show 
their  gratitude,  gave  their  adhesion  to  his  theory  of  the  royal 
prerogative.  To  the  Puritans,  who  were  falling  into  the 
usual  exaggerations  of  party  passion,  such  an  association 
looked  much  like  the  alliance  of  popery  and  tyranny.  They 
maintained  with  some  justice  that  the  Church  of  England 
had  in  doctrine  held  so  far  to  a  moderate  Calvinism,  and 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution      241 


they  followed  this  declaration  with  the  charge  that  the  rit- 
ualists were  innovators  and  were  preparing  to  carry  the 
Church  back  to  Rome.  Naturally,  the  Puritans,  who  op- 
posed Charles  on  ecclesiastical  grounds,  joined  forces  with 
the  men  who  resented  his  political  claims;  and  thus  the  abso- 
lutist and  High-Church  parties  had  no  sooner  united  than 
the  two  oppositions,  Puritan  and  parliamentarian,  fused 
their  interests.  Under  this  alignment  of  parties  and  issues 
Charles's  tumultuous  reign  began;  and  under  this  align- 
ment the  country,  after  fierce  and  prolonged  controversy, 
embarked  on  civil  war. 

In  view  of  the  strained  relations  between  king  and  Parlia-  Tunnage  and 

Poundage. 

ment,  it  is  intelligible  why  the  Parliament  took  a  most  un- 
usual course  with  regard  to  the  chief  revenue  of  the  crown, 
called  Tunnage  and  Poundage.  Tunnage  and  Poundage  was 
the  name  given  to  certain  duties  on  imports  and  exports, 
which  were  usually  voted  at  the  beginning  of  each  reign  for 
the  whole  period  of  the  sovereign's  life.  Partly  from  oc- 
cupation with  other  business,  partly  from  desire  to  bring 
pressure  to  bear  upon  the  king,  the  Parliament  now  failed 
to  make  the  usual  life  grant,  but  Charles,  who  could  not  well 
carry  on  the  government  without  Tunnage  and  Poundage, 
continued,  through  his  officials,  to  collect  it. 

While  the  clouds  were  gathering  over  England  by  reason  Disastrous 

r      !•  1  1      •      •     J      J      management 

of  these  domestic  infelicities,  Charles  foolishly  mvited  ad-  of thewar 
ditional  criticism  over  his  management  of  foreign  affairs.  ^^'^  P^'°* 
The  war  with  Spain  furnished  the  occasion.  He  had  in- 
herited it  from  his  father,  and  was  bent  on  prosecuting  it 
with  vigor.  The  Parliament  was  not  unwilling  to  give  him 
support — for  the  war  with  Spain  was  popular — but  it  nat- 
urally expected  that  the  money  which  it  granted  would  be 
spent  in  giving  the  Spaniards  a  sound  beating.  But  Charles, 
with  his  customary  lack  of  insight,  intrusted  the  conduct  of 
the  war  to  the  duke  of  Buckingham,  once  his  father's  fa- 


Fr*ice. 


242      The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution 

.^ —— ™   _« 

vorite  and  now  his  own,  and  the  duke  of  Buckingham,  who 
was  handsome  and  dashing,  but  unfit  for  weighty  business, 
reaped  nothing  but  disaster.  Two  expeditions,  one  de- 
spatched toward  the  Rhine  country  and  the  other  against 
Cadiz,  ended  in  utter  failure.  Thereupon  the  Commons  re- 
fused to  give  the  king  more  money  until  the  duke  was  re- 
moved from  the  council;  and  as  the  king  refused  to  allow 
himself  to  be  dictated  to  in  the  matter  of  his  ministers,  there 
ensued  a  deadlock  which  Charles  ended  abruptly  by  dis- 
solving the  Parliament. 

War  with  In  the  year  1627  matters  grew  worse.     The  king,  not  con- 

tent with  one  war,  allowed  himself  to  be  dragged  into  a  con- 
flict with  France  in  behalf  of  the  French  Huguenots,  who 
were  being  besieged  by  Richelieu  in  La  Rochelle.  As  the 
Huguenots  were  hard  pressed,  and  there  was  no  other  way 
of  getting  money  for  a  rescuing  expedition,  Charles  adopted 
a  perilous  device:  he  asked  first  for  voluntary  gifts,  and  when 
the  nation  failed  to  respond,  forced  the  wealthy  to  make 
him  a  loan.  When  citizens  could  not  or  would  not  pay,  he 
quartered  troops  upon  them,  and  in  order  to  frighten  the 
bolder  critics,  arbitrarily  arrested  some  of  their  number.  Not 
only  were  these  measures  dangerous,  but  the  sums  thus  ex- 
torted brought  no  blessing.  A  relief  expedition  which  sailed 
for  Rochelle  under  Buckingham  failed  as  miserably  as  the 
attack  upon  Cadiz,  with  the  discouraging  total  result  that 
new  disgrace  was  added  to  the  ignominy  already  incurred 
in  the  war  with  Spain. 

ThePetition  The  Parliament  which  met  in  1628  was  therefore  amply 

justified  in  its  outbreak  of  wrath  against  the  government. 
Before  granting  another  penny,  it  insisted  that  the  griev- 
ances of  the  nation  be  redressed.  In  a  document  called  the 
Petition  of  Right  it  made  a  formal  assertion  of  its  claims. 
The  Petition  of  Right  declared  forced  loans  illegal,  insisted 
that  every  man  put  under  arrest  should  have  a  trial,  and  con- 


a£  Right. 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution     243 


demned  the  use  of  martial  law  in  times  of  peace,  as  well  as 
the  quartering  of  troops  upon  householders.  As  there  was 
no  other  way  of  getting  money,  the  king  had  to  swallow  the 
bitter  morsel.  The  Petition  of  Right,  celebrated  as  a  re- 
newal of  Magna  Charta,  was  accepted  by  him  and  became 
the  law  of  the  land  (1628). 

The  Petition  of  Right,  by  limiting  the  exuberant  powers  of  Murder  of 
the  king,  cleared  the  atmosphere  and  opened  the  prospect 
of  peace.  But,  unfortunately,  it  did  not  settle  all  questions 
at  issue  between  sovereign  and  legislature.  Apart  from  the 
fact  that  the  Tunnage  and  Poundage  question  was  not  dis- 
posed of  by  the  Petition,  the  mere  fact  that  Charles  contin- 
ued to  shower  favors  upon  the  High  Church  element  and  to 
support  the  obnoxious  Buckingham,  was  enough  to  keep 
public  opinion  at  a  high  pitch  of  excitement.  Proof  of  the 
degree  of  hatred  which  the  party  strife  had  reached  was 
offered  soon  enough.  While  a  new  expedition  to  Rochelle 
was  fitting  at  Portsmouth,  a  fanatic  patriot,  John  Felton 
by  name,  assassinated  the  hated  duke  (1628).  The  king 
grieved  over  the  loss  of  his  favorite,  but  his  policy  remained 
obstinately  unchanged. 

The  Parliament  of    1629  had   no  sooner  come  together  The  memo- 

riblc  S&SS10L2 

than  it  reopened  the  combat.  The  members  complained  of  1629. 
vehemently  that  the  king  had  continued  to  collect  Tunnage 
and  Poundage,  though  the  duty  had  not  been  voted,  and 
they  were  no  less  wroth  at  his  continued  support  of  the 
ritualistic  churchmen.  Their  leading  orators  showed  such 
fury  of  resentment  that  Charles,  in  mingled  alarm  and  disgust, 
determined  to  break  up  their  session,  but  before  the  order  of 
adjournment  could  be  carried  out,  three  indignant  resolutions 
were  put  to  the  house,  and,  while  the  speaker  was  detained  in 
his  chair,  carried  by  acclamation.  The  resolutions  declared 
that  whoever  introduced  innovations  into  the  Church,  or  paid 
Tunnage  and  Poundage,  was  an  enemy  of  the  English  people. 


244     TJ^^  StJiarts  mid  the  Puritan  Revolution 


The  hopeless- 
ness of  peace. 


Charles  gov- 
erns without 
the  Parlia- 
ment. 


Wentworth 
and  Laud. 


Thus,  over  the  two  questions  of  the  ceremonial  character 
of  the  Church  and  the  control  of  Tunnage  and  Poundage, 
war  was  virtually  declared  between  king  and  Parliament. 
In  view  of  the  dangerous  excitement  of  the  parties,  there 
was  small  prospect  of  an  amicable  adjustment.  One  or  the 
other,  king  or  Parliament,  would  impose  his  theory,  and  the 
victor  would  be  master  and  crush  the  vanquished. 

For  the  next  eleven  years  (1629-40)  the  king  had  the  upper 
hand  by  taking  advantage  of  the  extensive  prerogatives  ac- 
cumulated by  his  predecessors.  The  central  feature  of  his 
programme  was  that  the  presumptuous  Parliament  must  not 
be  given  another  opportunity  to  dictate  to  him.  In  this  the 
laws  played  into  his  hands,  for  a  king  was  not  obliged  to 
summon  Parliament  at  stated  intervals,  and  usually  did  not 
summon  it  unless  he  wanted  a  money  grant.  In  fact,  it 
should  be  clearly  understood  that  Charles  always  prided 
himself  upon  acting  within  his  rights  as  defined  by  the  Con- 
stitution; not  he,  but  the  Parliament,  was  the  disturber  of 
the  peace.  But  his  plan  of  getting  along  without  Parliament 
necessitated  extreme  economy  and  demanded  the  immediate 
termination  of  the  expensive  wars  with  France  and  Spain. 
Before  the  end  of  1630  Charles  had  made  his  peace  with 
these  two  powers.  His  outlook  was  now,  on  the  whole,  not 
unhopeful.  Tunnage  and  Poundage,  although  condemned 
by  the  Commons,  were  regularly  paid  into  the  exchequer  by 
a  people  who  were  not  yet  ready  to  renounce  their  king,  and 
Tunnage  and  Poundage,  with  a  number  of  other  revenues 
regularly  provided  or  scraped  together  by  hook  or  by  crook, 
were  found  to  be  sufficient  for  the  current  expenses  of  the 
administration. 

Charles's  chief  advisers  during  this  eleven  years'  interlude 
of  practically  absolute  government  were  Thomas  Wentworth, 
for  civil  matters,  and  William  Laud,  for  ecclesiastical  affairs. 
As  the  king's  person  was  still  regarded  with  the  old  sacred 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution      245 

respect,  all  the  unpopular  measures  carried  in  Church  and 
state  during  this  period  were  laid  at  the  door  of  these  two 
men,  who,  as  the  years  came  and  went  without  a  Parliament, 
became  the  target  of  an  unreasoning  hatred. 

Laud  stood  for  the  tendency  in  the  English  Church  which  The  ecclesl- 
emphasized  dignity  and  ceremony— the  same  tendency  with  of  Laud, 
which  the  king  had  already  identified  himself.  In  fact,  it 
was  because  of  his  own  love  of  ceremony  and  uniformity 
that  the  king  had  bestowed  his  favor  upon  the  inflexible  and 
earnest  churchman,  had  made  him,  first,  bishop  of  London, 
and  finally,  in  the  year  1633,  had  appointed  him  archbishop 
of  Canterbury  and  primate  of  all  England.  Therewith 
Laud  was  in  a  position  to  put  his  own  and  the  king's  eccle- 
siastical convictions  into  practice.  By  means  of  parochial 
visitations  and  one-sided  judgments  pronounced  in  the 
ecclesiastical  court,  called  the  Court  of  High  Commission, 
he  soon  imposed  upon  all  the  ministers  of  the  Church  a 
strict  adherence  to  the  forms  of  the  Prayer  Book,  and  did 
not  even  hesitate  to  go  beyond  them.  Thus,  at  his  instiga- 
tion, the  communion  table  was  placed  in  the  east  end  of  the 
church,  and  by  being  surrounded  with  an  iron  railing  was 
given,  in  Puritan  eyes,  something  of  the  appearance  of  a 
Catholic  altar.  As  a  result  of  Laud's  policy  the  Puritan 
ministers  either  resigned  or  were  dismissed,  and  the  Puritan 
element  was  reduced  to  an  enforced  silence.  Even  many 
Englishmen,  who  welcomed  the  new  regime,  deplored  the 
unwisdom  which  shocked  the  most  sacred  sentiments  of  their 
Puritan  countrymen  and  drove  them  into  hostility  to  the 
national  Church. 

Wentworth  was  a  man  of  far  greater  intellectual  powers  The  political 
than  either  Laud  or  Charles.    His  theory  of  government  was  wentw'orth. 
that  a  king  who  governs  well  is  better  than  a  babbling, 
distraught  Parliament.     As  a  natural  corollary,  he  held  that 
the  executive  should  be  strong,  efficient,  large-minded,  and 


246     The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution 


Ship-money. 


The  case  of 

John 

Hampden. 


should  steer  its  course  without  fear  or  favor.  This  sys- 
tem of  enlightened  despotism  he  called  by  the  name  of 
"thorough."  As  one  of  Charles's  favorite  advisers  he  urged 
upon  the  king  a  firm  stand  against  the  exaggerated  demands 
of  the  Parliament  and  the  Puritans,  but  it  would  be  a  mis- 
take to  make  him  responsible  for  all  the  ill-advised  meas- 
ures which  followed  the  dissolution  of  1629,  for  as  early  as 
1633  he  was  sent  as  Lord-Deputy  to  Ireland,  and  was  out  of 
direct'  touch  with  English  politics  for  some  years. 

Certainly  Wentworth  cannot  be  charged  with  the  great 
blunder  committed  in  connection  with  ship-money.  We 
have  seen  that  Charles's  system  left  him  in  constant  need  of 
funds.  So  slim  were  his  revenues  that  he  could  not  even 
maintain  a  navy  large  enough  to  protect  the  English  ship- 
ping. The  legal  remedy  for  the  inconvenience  would  have 
been  to  call  a  Parliament  and  ask  for  supplies,  but  Charles 
would  not  take  that  step.  He  hit  upon  a  subterfuge.  In 
former  times  monarchs  had,  when  the  country  was  in  danger, 
ordered  the  counties  bordering  on  the  sea  to  furnish  ships. 
Charles  issued  such  an  order  in  the  year  1634,  with  a  certain 
show  of  legality;  but  in  the  years  1635  and  1636,  against  all 
law  and  precedent,  he  ordered  the  inland  counties  to  con- 
tribute money  to  the  same  end. 

Although  a  navy  might  be  good  in  itself,  plainly  Charles's 
way  of  getting  it  was  a  piece  of  very  sharp  practice.  Indig- 
nation swelled  like  an  advancing  tide,  and  when  a  country 
gentleman,  John  Hampden  by  name,  preferred,  rather  than 
pay  his  assessment,  to  suffer  arrest  and  trial,  he  made  him- 
self the  hero  of  the  hour.  When  the  case  came  up  in  court, 
the  judges  by  a  bare  majority  decided  against  Hampden, 
but  so  general  was  the  disafltection  following  upon  his  trial, 
that  it  required  only  an  occasion  to  show  that  the  loyalty 
which  had  bound  England  for  ages  to  her  royal  house  had 
suffered  fatal  impairment. 


TJie  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution      247 

That  occasion  was  furnished  by  Scotland.     In  the  year  Charles  inter- 
1637  Charles,  with  his   usual   neglect  of  popular  feeling,   Presbyterian 
ventured  to  introduce  the  Prayer  Book  and  some  other  Church, 
features  of  the  English  Church  into  his  kingdom  of  Scotland, 
a  country  which,  as  we  know,  was  Presbyterian  to  the  core. 
The  answer  of  the  Scots  to  this  measure  was  an  insurrection. 
They  drew  up  a  national  oath  or  Covenant,  by  which  they 
pledged  themselves  to  resist  to  the  utmost  any  attempt  to 
change   their  religion.     Their  unanimity   and  enthusiasm 
gave  them  irresistible  power.     In  view  of  it  Charles  at  first 
hesitated,    and   to   gain    time   proposed   negotiations;    but 
finally,  when  he  found  that  he  must  either  keep  his  hands  off 
or  fight,  he  chose  the  latter. 

There  followed  the  campaign  of  1639  against  the  Scottish  War  with 
Presbyterians  or  Covenanters,  which  is  known  as  the  First 
Bishops'  War,  because,  among  other  innovations,  Charles 
planned  to  put  the  Scottish  National  Church  under  the  rule 
of  bishops.  The  campaign  was  a  miserable  fiasco.  Owing 
to  lack  of  funds,  the  king  led  northward  a  mere  rabble,  and 
when  he  came  upon  the  Scots  found  himself  compelled  to 
sign  a  truce.  Between  his  Scottish  and  his  English  subjects, 
whom  he  had  alike  alienated,  his  position  was  now  thoroughly 
humiliating.  In  order  to  avenge  himself  upon  the  Scots,  he 
required  effective  money  help  from  England,  and  effective 
money  help  from  England  involved  calling  a  Parliament, 
In  one  direction  or  the  other  he  had,  therefore,  to  make  con- 
cessions. Charles  fought  a  hard  battle  with  his  pride,  but 
finally,  feeling  that  the  Scottish  matter  was  more  pressing, 
he  summoned  a  Parliament  (1640). 

Thus  the  long  period  of  government  without  a  Parliament  The  Second 
had  come  to  an  end.    When,  however,  the  Parliament,  known   \v|r°l'64o. 
as  the  Short  Parliament,  began,  instead  of  voting  money  for 
the  enslavement  of  the  Scots,  to  remind  the  king  of  the  nation's 
grievances,  Charles  flamed  up  as  of  old  and  dismissed  it. 


248     The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution 


1  he  Long 

Parliament. 


Triumph  of 
the  Parlia- 
ment. 


The  king  is 
stripped  of 
his  authority. 


Once  more,  in  spite  of  his  lack  of  funds,  he  conducted  a  cam- 
paign, known  as  the  Second  Bishops'  War,  against  the  Scots 
(1640).  But  when  the  second  experiment  had  failed  as  badly 
as  the  first,  he  had  finally  to  acknowledge  himself  beaten. 

In  November,  1640,  he  summoned  another  Parliament, 
which  he  felt  he  would  not  be  able  to  send  home  at  his  will. 
It  has  received  the  name  of  the  Long  Parliament,  and  is  the 
most  famous  legislative  body  in  English  annals.  It  sat  for 
almost  two  decades,  witnessing,  and  itself  initiating,  the 
transformation  of  England. 

The  Long  Parliament  was  no  sooner  installed  than  it 
practically  took  the  whole  government  into  its  own  hands. 
The  king's  innings  were  over  and  it  was  now  the  turn  of  the 
rival  power.  Burning  for  revenge,  the  Commons  turned  first 
upon  Laud  and  Wentworth,  and  ordered  them  both  under 
arrest.  Wentworth,  who  had  lately  been  created  earl  of 
Strafford,  was  impeached  for  treason,  but  when  the  case 
against  him  threatened  to  break  down,  because  the  evidences 
of  treason  were  insufficient,  the  Commons  simply  legislated 
him  out  of  the  world  by  a  bill  of  attainder.^  The  frightened 
king  to  his  lasting  shame  signed  the  act,  and  on  May  12, 
164 1,  sent  the  dauntless  defender  of  the  throne  to  the  scaffold. 
The  aged  Laud  was  spared  for  the  present,  but  in  1645  ^^ 
also  fell  a  victim  to  Puritan  passion. 

At  the  same  tim.e  the  Commons  turned  fiercely  upon  the 
grievances  of  the  past.  As  the  Scots  would  not  leave  Eng- 
land till  their  expenses  had  been  made  good  to  them, 
Charles,  to  get  money,  had  to  accept  every  bill.  Natur- 
ally the  Parliament  pressed  its  advantage  to  the  uttermost. 
The  irregular  courts,  such  as  the  Star  Chamber  and  High 
Commission,  which  had  furnished  arms  to  the  tyranny  of 
king  and  Church,  were  abolished.     The  Star  Chamber,  it 


^  "An  impeachment  followed,  in  some  sort,  legal  rules;  a  bill  of  attain- 
der was  an  act  of  power  for  which  no  reasons  need  be  given  "  (Gardiner). 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution     249 

will  be  remembered,  had  been  employed  by  Henry  VII. 
against  lawless  nobles,  but  Charles  had  used  it  chiefly  to 
silence  inconvenient  critics.  Out  of  the  mass  of  enact- 
ments similarly  aimed  at  the  king,  we  select  the  following: 
ship-money  was  declared  illegal;  the  king's  position  in  the 
Tunnage  and  Poundage  issue  was  condemned;  Charles 
had  to  agree  that  there  should  be  at  least  one  session  of 
Parliament  every  three  years  (the  triennial  act),  and  was 
obliged  to  promise  not  to  dissolve  the  present  Parliament 
except  at  its  own  pleasure.  Thus  in  a  few  months  the 
mighty  prerogatives  which  the  sovereign  had  acquired  in 
Tudor  times  had  shrunk  to  a  shadow.  Could  a  king 
of  Charles's  obstinate  and  perfidious  mind  submit  to  such 
a  terrible  abasement? 

For  nearly  a  year  the  king  endured  these  restrictions.   Unanimity  of 
But  he  was  watching  his  chance,  and  the  first  division  among  ment.^'^  '^' 
the  Commons  was  his  signal  to  strike.     The  Commons  had 
agreed  admirably  on  all  the  political  questions  at  issue  be- 
tween themselves  and  the  sovereign,  but  in  the  summer  of 
164 1,  when  the  religious  issue  was  broached,  ominous  signs 
of  division  began  to  appear.     Laud's  insistence  on  cere- 
monies had  created  a  strong  sentiment  against  the  bishops 
by  whom  the  ceremonies  had  been  enforced.     In  the  Long 
Parliament  there  was  a  large  body  of  men  who  believed  that 
if  the  Church  was  to  become  really  Protestant,  the  system 
of  Episcopal  government  would  have  to  be  abandoned.    But 
a  powerful  minority  cherished  a  sentiment  of  loyalty  toward 
the  Church  of  their  youth  and  deprecated  radical  changes. 
Under  the  circumstances  Puritans  and  Episcopalians  in  the   Puritans  and 
Commons  frequently  came  to  hard  words,  and  naturally,   in'{he°(?om-"^ 
as  soon  as  this  opening  in  the  hitherto  solid  phalanx  of  the  ni""s- 
opposition  was  apparent,  Charles  deftly  took  advantage  of 
it.     He  threw  in  his  lot  with  the  Episcopalians,  and  so  once 
more  rallied  about  him  a  party. 


250     The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution 


Charles  at- 
tempts to 
arrest  the 
five  leaders. 


1  lie  breach 
is  complete. 


Early  successes 
of  the  king. 


Oliver 
Cromwell- 


In  the  assurance  of  renewed  strength,  he  planned  in  Jan- 
uary, 1642,  to  strike  a  blow  at  the  predominance  of  Parlia- 
rr.ent.  Summoning  his  troops,  he  marched  to  Westminster, 
and  entering  the  chamber  of  the  Commons  attempted  to 
arrest  the  five  leaders,  Pym,  Hampden,  Hazelrigg,  HoUeSj 
and  Strode.  But  the  birds  had  flown,  the  city  rose  about 
him,  and  fearful  for  his  safety  he  withdrew  into  the  country. 

The  king's  attempted  violence  was  sure  proof  that  he  had 
no  mind  to  bend  his  neck  to  the  Parliament,  and  would 
rather  resort  to  war  than  submit.  Futile  negotiations,  kept 
up  for  a  while,  did  not  blind  any  one  to  the  fact  that  the  die 
was  cast.  In  August,  1642,  Charles,  unfurling  the  royal 
banner  at  Nottingham,  bade  all  loyal  Englishmen  rally  to 
their  king.  The  Parliament  in  its  turn  gathered  an  army 
and  prepared  to  take  the  field. 

The  parties  about  to  engage  seemed  to  be  very  equally 
matched.  The  king's  party,  known  by  the  proud  name  of 
the  Cavaliers,  held  most  of  the  northern  and  western  counties, 
while  the  adherents  of  the  Parliament,  derisively  dubbed 
Roundheads  because  many  of  them  cropped  their  hair  close 
while  their  opponents  wore  theirs  in  fashionable  cvu^ls,  held 
the  south  and  the  east,  with  London  for  their  centre.  Neither 
side  was  well  furnished  with  troops,  but  the  fact  that  the 
slashing  country  gentlemen  crowded  into  the  king's  service 
gave  the  royal  side  at  first  the  advantage.  In  the  early 
campaigns  the  armies  of  the  Parliament  suffered  many 
reverses,  and  on  one  occasion  London,  the  Parliamentary 
centre,  almost  fell  into  the  king's  hands.  It  was  really  not 
until  the  year  1644  that  the  Parliament  began  to  develop  an 
efficient  army.  Simultaneously  there  rose  into  prominence 
the  man  who  was  destined  to  overthrow  the  king  and  bring 
the  war  to  a  conclusion — Oliver  Cromwell. 

Oliver  Cromwell  is  one  of  those  surprising  characters  who 
sum  up  in  themselves  a  whole  period  of  their  nation's  his- 


The  Shiarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution      251 


tory.     He  was  a  country  gentleman  of  the  east  of  England, 
whose  life  had  become  bound  up  in  the  Puritan  cause. 
With  moral  firmness  and  religious  enthusiasm  he  combined 
an  extraordinary  amount  of  practical  good  sense,  which  en- 
abled him  to  see  things  exactly  as  they  were.     When  every- 
body else  was  in  consternation  over  the  victories  of  the  king 
and  undecided  what  to  do  next,  he  went  straight  to  the  core 
of  the  military  problem  with   which   the  Parliament  was 
vainly  wrestling.     He  thus  expressed  himself  to  his  cousin 
Hampden:  "Your  troops  are,  most  of  them,  old,  decayed 
serving-men  and  tapsters.  .  .  .  Their  troops  are  gentlemen. 
Do  you  think  that  the  spirit  of  such  base  fellows  will  ever  be 
able  to  encounter  gentlemen?     You  must  get  men  of  spirit 
or  else  you  will  be  beaten  still."     His  good  sense  had  dis- 
covered the  thing  needful,  and  his  love  of  action  urged  him 
to  do  it,  unmindful  whether  the  distraught  Parliament  sup- 
ported him  or  not.     He  took  the  field  and  gradually  col- 
lected about  himself  a  special  troop  of  men  of  his  own  mind 
— earnest  Puritans  who  had  their  hearts  in  the  cause;  and 
his  troop  soon  won  for  itself  the  grim  title  of  Cromwell's 
Ironsides. 

In  the  campaign  of  1644  Cromwell's  Ironsides  first  prom-  The  Ironsides 
inently  showed  their  metal.  On  July  2,  1644,  at  Marston  ^oor. 
Moor,  near  York,  was  decided  the  fate  of  the  northern 
counties,  and  here  for  the  first  time  Cromwell's  troopers 
charged  through  the  hitherto  invincible  cavalry  commanded 
by  Prince  Rupert,  the  king's  nephew.  WTien  night  de- 
scended upon  Marston  Moor,  the  king  had  lost  his  hold 
upon  the  north.  At  the  battle  of  Newbury,  which  took 
place  a  few  months  later,  it  is  probable  that  the  king 
would  have  been  crushed  entirely  if  Cromwell  had  not 
been  thwarted  by  his  sluggish  and  incapable  superiors. 

That  winter  Cromwell  fiercely  denounced  in  Parliament  Army 
the  lax  method  of  carrying  on  the  war  which  had  hitherto 


252      TJie  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution 


Naseby,  June 
14, 1645. 


Alliance  of 
England  and 
Scotland. 


prevailed;  and  so  convincing  were  his  criticisms  that  the 
Commons  voted  a  number  of  sweeping  reforms.  By  means 
of  two  ordinances,  the  Self-denying  Ordinance  and  the  New 
Model,  the  army  was  completely  reorganized.  By  the  Self- 
denying  Ordinance  members  of  Parliament  gave  up  to 
trained  soldiers  the  commands  which  they  owed  to  favor  and 
influence,  and  by  the  New  Model  the  army  was  reorganized 
and  put  on  a  strictly  professional  basis.  The  spring  of  1645 
found  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax  at  the  head  of  the  reformed  forces, 
and  the  fiery  Cromwell  in  command  of  the  horse. 

The  effect  of  the  change  made  itself  felt  at  once ;  the  cam- 
paign of  1645  proved  decisive.  At  Naseby,  in  the  heart  of 
England,  the  king  made  his  last  formidable  effort.  The 
gallant  Rupert  plunged,  as  so  often  before,  through  the 
squadrons  of  horse  opposed  to  him,  but  his  reckless  pursuit 
took  him  miles  away  from  the  battle-field,  and  before  he 
could  return,  Cromwell  had  broken  the  king's  left  and  cen- 
tre and  won  the  day.  For  almost  a  year  the  king  still  held 
out,  vainly  hoping  for  relief  from  this  or  that  small  circum- 
stance. In  May,  1646,  judging  that  all  was  over,  he  surren- 
dered to  the  Scots,  who  occupied  the  English  north. 

How  had  the  Scots  been  drawn  upon  the  scene?  Mind- 
ful of  the  king's  hostility  to  their  Presbyterian  system,  they 
had  followed  with  sympathy  the  struggle  of  the  English  Puri- 
tans, and  late  in  the  year  1643,  yielding  to  the  solicitations 
of  the  Parliament,  had  signed  a  treaty,  called  the  Solemn 
League  and  Covenant,  and  taken  the  field.  Their  aid 
proved  of  great  value  in  crushing  the  king,  but  was  given 
only  in  return  for  a  grave  concession:  the  Parliament  was 
obliged  to  promise  to  put  the  English  Church  under  the 
Presbyterian  system  of  government.  The  Puritans  owed 
their  existence,  we  have  seen,  to  the  growing  hatred  of  cere- 
mony and  Episcopacy;  but  now  that  ceremony  and  Episco- 
pacy were  overtlirown  and  another  system  had  to  be  found, 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution      253 

a  considerable  number  leaned  toward  Presbyterianism.  A 
majority,  it  was  found,  could  be  had  in  Parliament  for  the 
religious  concession  demanded  by  the  Scots,  but  a  minority, 
calling  themselves  Independents,  objected  strenuously,  hold- 
ing that  the  possibilities  of  tyranny  in  the  Presbyterian  sys- 
tem were  every  whit  as  great  as  in  Episcopacy,  and  contend- 
ing vigorously  for  the  toleration  of  any  and  all  Protestant 
sects.  But  at  the  time  the  need  of  the  Scottish  aid  was  so 
great  that  the  treaty  was  voted. 

Though  in  the  Parhament  the  Independents  were  a  mere  Presbyterians 
handful,  they  enjoyed  an  influence  out  of  proportion  to  their  pendents! 
vote  through  the  circumstance  that  they  commanded  the 
powerful  backing  of  Cromwell  and  the  army.  Under  the 
circumstances  the  Parliamentary  majority  was  obliged  to 
proceed  with  caution,  especially  while  the  war  continued 
and  the  troops  had  to  be  kept  in  good  humor.  Thus  the 
contention  slumbered  for  a  time;  but  as  soon  as  the  battle  of 
Naseby  had  been  won  and  the  enemy  scattered,  the  quarrel 
between  Presbyterians  and  Independents  assumed  a  more 
serious  aspect. 

When  the  king  surrendered  to  the  Scots  he  was  well  The  king's 
informed  of  these  differences  of  opinion  among  the  victors,  '^^  *^^  ^  '°°* 
and  hoped,  in  his  small-minded  way,  to  find  his  profit  in 
them.  Let  the  army,  representing  the  Independents  and 
their  view  of  tolerance,  only  fall  to  quarrelling  with  the 
majority  of  Parliament,  representing  the  Presbyterians  and 
their  system  of  religious  uniformity,  and  his  turn  would 
come.  While  Parhament  and  army  mutually  consumed 
each  other,  he  would  step  in  and  seize  the  spoils. 

Herein  Charles  calculated  both  well  and  ill.     In  the  year  TheParlia- 
1647  the  Scots  surrendered  him,  on  the  payment  of  their   m^ethe\i'ng 
campaign  expenses,  to  the  Parliament.     The  Presbyterians  accept  a  Pres- 
thereupon,  having  him  in  their  power,  tried  to  hun^'  through   tlement. 
a  settlement  with  the  captive  monarch.     Utterly  neglectful 


254     TJie  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution 


The  civil  war 
of  1648. 


Pride's  purge. 


Trial  and 
death  of  the 
king. 


of  the  desire  of  the  army  for  rehgious  toleration,  they  prom- 
ised Charles  a  restoration  on  easy  terms  if  he  would  only 
give  his  royal  assent  to  the  Presbyterian  establishment.  The 
Scots  meanwhile  were  carrying  on  a  secret  negotiation  with 
the  king,  looking  to  the  same  end.  The  result  of  all  these 
intrigues  was  another  civil  war,  all  for  the  benefit  of  the 
king.  He  might  rub  his  hands  in  glee  over  the  thought  that 
he  had  set  his  enemies  by  the  ears.  In  the  result,  however, 
Charles's  petty  calculations  shot  wide  of  the  mark.  Al- 
though the  royalists  rose,  the  Scots  invaded  England,  and 
the  Presbyterians  aided  the  king  as  much  as  they  dared, 
their  combined  forces  were  no  match  for  the  victors  of 
Naseby.  In  a  short  campaign,  conducted  in  the  summer  of 
1648,  Fairfax  and  Cromwell  laid  their  enemies  at  their  feet. 
The  army  was  supreme  in  England. 

Before  attacking  any  other  problem  the  army  was  resolved 
to  settle  its  long-standing  account  with  "that  man  of  blood," 
the  perfidious  Stuart,  by  bringing  him  to  trial.  As  the  Pres- 
byterian majority  of  the  Commons  objected  to  this  course, 
it  had  to  be  swept  out  of  the  way.  On  December  6,  1648, 
a  troop,  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Pride,  expelled  the 
Presbvterian  members,  to  the  number  of  about  one  hundred 
and  forty,  from  the  House.  No  more  than  fifty  or  sixty 
commoners  retained  their  seats,  who  could  hardly  be  ex- 
pected to  resist  the  army.  They  continued  to  exercise  th« 
duties  of  Parliament,  but  the  people  fixed  upon  them  the 
contemptuous  term  of  the  "  Rump." 

The  way  was  now  cleared  for  the  trial  of  the  king;  but  as 
there  was  no  provision  in  the  law  for  such  a  step,  it  became 
necessary  to  resort  to  illegality.  By  an  act  of  the  servile 
"  Rump  "  there  was  created  a  special  High  Court  of  Justice. 
The  end,  of  course,  was  to  be  foreseen.  The  army,  with 
Cromwell  at  its  head,  would  not  have  proceeded  to  such  ex- 
tremes of  violence  if  it  had  not  been  profoundly  convinced 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution     2^\ 


that  with  this  king,  whose  every  act  was  a  subterfuge,  whose 
every  word  an  equivocation,  there  could  be  no  peace.  The 
High  Court  of  Justice  found  the  king  guilty  of  treason,  and 
on  January  30,  1649,  ^'^  ^^"^  executed  on  a  scaffold  erected 
in  front  of  his  own  palace  of  Whitehall.  He  had  never  been 
shaken  in  the  conviction  that  the  right,  during  the  whole 
course  of  the  civil  war,  had  been  with  him,  and  he  died  cour- 
ageously in  that  belief.  To  awestruck  royalists  his  death 
invested  him  with  the  halo  of  a  saint  and  martyr  who  had 
perished  in  a  vain  effort  to  uphold  the  Constitution  and  the 
Church. 

The  king's  death  had  been  preceded  by  the  dissolution  The  army 
of  the  House  of  Lords  because  of  the  refusal  of  that  body  to  ^"  P^^^"^- 
join  in  the  prosecution  of  the  king.  The  English  Constitu- 
tion, therefore,  was  now  a  wreck;  king  and  Lords  had  dis- 
appeared, the  Commons  were  a  fragment.  The  power  lay 
solely  with  the  army,  and  the  burning  question  of  the  day 
was  whether  the  military  revolutionists  would  be  able  to 
build  a  new  constitution  grounded  in  sound  principles  and 
acceptable  to  England. 

For  eleven  years  the  leaders  of  the  army  attempted  with  The  ideal  of 
really  noble  zeal  and  sincerity  to  realize  their  ideal  of  gov-  republicaEe. 
ernment.  That  ideal  was  bom  of  the  deep  religious  con- 
viction that  every  man  must  indeed  be  a  follower  of  Christ, 
but  that  he  should  be  allowed  to  worship  after  his  own  fash- 
ion. In  consequence,  Cromwell  and  his  friends  desired  a 
government  of  upright  Puritan  men  who  tolerated  every  be- 
lief but  Popery.  Unfortunately,  the  vast  majority  of  con- 
temporary Englishmen  were  either  Episcopalian  or  Presby- 
terian, and  royalist  to  the  core.  Therefore  the  Puritan 
exoeriment,  however  nobly  inspired,  was  doomed  to  end  in 
failure. 


256     Tlie  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution 


The  Common- 
wealth. 


Cromwell 

conquers 

Ireland. 


Cromwell 

conquers 

Scotland. 


Dismissal  of 
the  "  Rump." 


The  Commonweallh  and  the  Protectorate  (1649-60). 

On  the  death  of  the  king,  the  "Rump"  voted  that  Eng- 
land was  a  Commonwealth  without  king  or  Lords,  and  ap- 
pointed, provisionally,  a  Council  of  State  to  act  as  the  exec- 
utive branch  of  the  government. 

There  was  work  enough  ahead  for  the  young  republic. 
In  Ireland  the  Commonwealth  held  no  more  than  a  few 
isolated  outposts,  while  in  Scotland,  an  allied  kingdom, 
Charles  II.,  the  oldest  son  of  the  dead  sovereign,  had  been 
proclaimed  king.  In  the  clear  recognition  that  the  Com- 
monwealth could  not  live  with  Ireland  and  Scotland  ranged 
against  it,  Cromwell  was  despatched  to  reduce  the  neighbor- 
ing kingdoms  to  submission.  In  an  irresistible  campaign  of 
the  year  1649,  he  disposed  of  the  Irish,  after  cowing  their 
spirit  by  two  bloody  massacres  at  Drogheda  and  Wexford. 
Then  a  rule  of  force  was  established  such  as  Ireland  had  not 
seen  before,  and  a  great  part  of  the  land  was  confiscated  for 
the  benefit  of  the  conquerors.  This  done,  the  victor  turned 
to  Scotland.  At  Dunbar  (1650)  Cromwell's  soldiers,  whose 
tempers  were  like  the  steel  with  which  they  smote,  scattered 
the  Scotch  army;  and  when  a  second  army,  with  Charles  II. 
in  its  midst,  struck  across  the  border  in  the  hope  of  stirring 
up  an  English  rebellion,  Cromwell,  starting  in  pursuit,  met 
it  at  Worcester,  in  the  heart  of  England,  and  won  the  crown- 
ing victory  of  his  life  (165 1).  Charles  II.  escaped,  after  vari- 
ous romantic  adventures,  to  the  Continent;  but  the  Scots 
were  compelled  to  recognize  the  Commonwealth  and  be 
merged  with  England  in  a  single  state. 

With  peace  reestablished  throughout  the  British  dominion, 
the  question  of  a  permanent  government  became  more  press- 
ing. Ever^'body  clamored  for  a  settlement  and  the  termi- 
nation of  the  long  disorder.  Only  the  "  Rump  "  Parliament 
was  in  no  hurry,  and  the  fifty  or  sixty  members  who  com- 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritayi  Revolution     257 

posed  it  not  only  clung  to  office,  but  even  planned  to  per- 
petuate their  power.  Naturally,  the  soldiers,  who  wished  to 
see  practical  results,  watched  the  delays  of  the  legislators 
with  growing  impatience.  In  April,  1653,  their  great  leader, 
Cromwell,  despairing  of  good  from  so  narrow  and  selfish  a 
body  of  men,  resolved  to  have  done  with  them.  He  invaded 
the  "Rump"  with  a  detachment  of  troops  and  ordered  the 
members  home.  "Come,  come,"  he  shouted  in  indigna- 
tion, "we  have  had  enough  of  this.  It  is  not  fit  you  should 
sit  here  any  longer."  Thus  the  last  fragment  of  the  old  Con- 
stitution vanished  from  the  scene. 

A  new  Parliament,  freely  elected  by  the  nation,  would  have  Barebone's 
been  one  solution  of  the  difficulties  which  now  confronted  1653. 
Cromwell.  But  such  a  Parliament  would  have  immediately 
called  back  the  Stuarts,  and  Cromwell  was  ready  to  try  all 
other  means  before  he  declared  that  the  great  cause,  which 
to  his  fervid  mind  was  that  of  God  Himself,  had  failed.  In 
conjunction  with  a  number  of  officers  he  therefore  noyn- 
inated  an  assembly  of  Puritan  partisans  who  were  to  act  as 
Parliament.  In  an  opening  speech  he  told  them  that  they 
were  called  because  they  were  godly  men.  But  although 
they  meant  well,  they  were  inexperienced  and  crotchety. 
The  town  wags,  immensely  amused  at  their  provincial  man- 
ners and  ideas,  called  them  Barebone's  Parliament,  from  a 
certain  worthy  member  whose  evangelical  name  of  Praise- 
God  Barebone  invited  their  ridicule.  Luckily,  after  a  few 
weeks  a  party  among  the  nominees  recognized  their  own  un- 
fitness and  brought  about  the  closing  of  the  session  (Decem- 
ber, 1653). 

As  some  government  had  to  fill  up  the  gap,  the  army  offi-  The  Pro- 
cers  now  drew  up  a  Constitution  in  forty-one  articles,  called  '^'^'°'"^'^- 
the  Instrument  of  Government,  which  placed  the  chief  power 
in  the  hands  of  Oliver  Cromwell  under  the  title  of  Lord 
Protector.     By  the  new  Constitution  the  Lord  Protector,  to- 


258      Ifie  Stuarts  and  the  Puritaji  Revolution 

gether  with  a  Council  of  State,  was  to  exercise  the  executive 
power,  while  a  Parliament  of  a  single  House,  from  which  all 
partisans  of  the  Stuarts  were  excluded,  was  to  perform  the 
legislative  functions  of  government.  The  new  attempt  came 
nearer  than  any  of  the  others  to  being  an  equitable  solution 
of  the  political  difficulties  into  which  England  had  been 
plunged;  but,  unfortunately,  even  the  partial  success  achieved 
was  accompanied  by  the  disfranchisement  of  the  royalists, 
and  was  primarily  due  to  the  fact  that  the  new  Constitution 
placed  in  control  an  entirely  efficient  man. 
The  domestic  The  five  years  (1653-58)  of  Oliver's  rule  as  Protector  were 
the  Protector,  beset  with  ever-recurring  difficulties.  His  very  first  Parlia- 
ment insisted  on  revising  the  Instrument  of  Government. 
As  that  was  tantamount  to  calling  the  whole  settlement  in 
question,  Oliver  in  high  dudgeon  dissolved  the  Parliament 
(January,  1655).  For  a  while  now  he  ruled  without  a  leg- 
islature. There  were  frequent  attempts  upon  his  life,  repub- 
lican conspiracies,  royalist  risings,  the  cares  and  annoy- 
ances inseparable  from  rule.  The  Protectorate,  with  its 
one-man  power,  was,  if  possible,  even  more  offensive  to 
the  strong  republican  element  in  England  than  to  the  royal 
adherents  of  the  Stuarts.  Oliver  confessed  with  sorrow  that 
"it  was  easier  to  keep  sheep  than  to  govern  men."  But  his 
brave  spirit  was  undaunted  and  he  met  every  difficulty  as  it 
arose.  He  called  a  second  Parliament  in  the  year  1656, 
and  with  this  he  got  along  more  smoothly  for  a  while.  The 
traditional  English  conservatism  governed  this  assembly, 
and  it  tried  to  fall  back  upon  the  lines  of  the  old  Constitu- 
tion. It  created  a  second  House  to  take  the  place  of  the 
abolished  House  of  Lords  and  offered  to  make  Oliver  he- 
reditary king.  But  Oliver,  who  had  no  love  of  baubles,  and 
already  exercised  a  virtual  kingship  as  Protector,  declined 
the  dangerous  title.  When  this  same  Parliament  came  up 
to  London  for  a  second  session  and  followed  a  course  in- 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution     259 


compatible  with  the  maintenance  of  the  government,  Oliver 
reproachfully  dismissed  it,  like  its  predecessor  (February, 
1658).  His  bitter  experience  with  his  legislature  must  have 
convinced  him,  if  he  stood  in  need  of  proof,  that  the  nation 
was  not  with  him.  Disguise  it  as  he  might,  his  rule  rested 
upon  the  army  and  was  a  military  despotism. 

In  all  this  time  the  great  principle  of  toleration,  which  The  failure 

,  ,  rw        -i      of  toleration, 

Oliver  had  mamly  at  heart,  made  no  progress.  Oliver  s 
original  idea  had  been  to  give  all  Protestant  Christians  the 
protection  of  the  law.  But  the  fierce  religious  temper  of 
the  time  prevented  people  from  seeing  any  right  outside 
of  their  own  faith.  Oliver,  like  all  men  who  are  ahead 
of  their  time,  was  left  without  support.  The  animosities 
of  his  antagonists,  as  well  as  of  his  followers,  forced  him, 
therefore,  before  long  to  trench  upon  his  principles.  In 
1655  he  began  persecuting  those  who  held  to  the  Book 
of  Common  Prayer,  and  long  before  his  end  he  had  the 
bitter  conviction  that  the  government  of  the  Puritan  Com- 
monwealth rested  on  no  single  principle  that  had  taken  root 
in  the  nation. 

If  Oliver  was  thus  reaping  failure  at  home,  he  heaped  War  with  the 
triumph  upon  triumph  abroad.  From  1652  to  1654  there  ^^^^^  '^ 
had  been  a  war  with  the  Dutch,  caused  by  English  jealousy  of 
the  immense  commerce  of  the  rival  republic.  The  immedi- 
ate cause  of  the  rupture  was  a  measure,  called  the  Naviga- 
tion Act  (1651),  devised  to  increase  English  shipping.  As 
it  was  declared  by  this  act  that  foreign  ships  could  bring 
to  England  only  such  goods  as  were  produced  in  their  own 
country,  the  Dutch,  who  were  carriers  for  the  whole  world, 
were  dealt  a  severe  blow.  In  the  war  that  followed,  the 
English,  after  a  few  preliminary  losses,  got  command  of  the 
Channel,  and  Cromwell  was  enabled  to  sign  (1654)  a  fav- 
orable peace  which  greatly  strengthened  his  credit  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world. 


26o     The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution 


Oliver  makes 
war  upon 
Spain. 


The  death  of 
Oliver. 


Anarchy. 


Soon  after,  in  1655,  Oliver  made  war  upon  Spain,  finally 
going  so  far  as  to  enter  into  an  alliance  with  France  against 
the  common  foe.  Jamaica,  in  the  West  Indies,  was  taken 
from  Spain  by  an  English  fleet,  and  Dunkirk,^  in  the  Span- 
ish Netherlands,  after  a  victory  of  the  allies  on  the  Dunes, 
opened  its  gates  to  Cromwell's  troopers.  Since  the  days 
of  Elizabeth,  the  name  of  England  had  not  enjoyed  such 
respect  as  it  did  now.  Oliver's  arm  reached  even  to  the 
Alps,  and  at  his  command  the  duke  of  Savoy  ceased  perse- 
cuting his  Protestant  subjects. 

Thus  to  the  end  the  Protector  held  the  rudder  firmly. 
But  his  health  was  broken  by  his  great  responsibilities,  and 
on  the  third  day  of  September,  1658,  he  passed  away.  It 
had  been  his  "  fortunate  day  " — that  was  his  own  word  — 
the  day  of  the  great  victories  of  Dunbar  and  Worcester, 
and  was  to  his  mind,  heavy  with  the  disappointments  of  his 
reign,  perhaps  no  less  fortunate  because  it  brought  the  end 
of  tribulation.  His  last  prayer,  in  which  breathes  all  his 
Christian  fervor,  all  his  honesty  and  charity,  has  been  re- 
corded for  us.  "Lord,"  ran  a  part  of  it,  "Thou  hast  made 
me,  though  very  unworthy,  a  mean  instrument  to  do  Thy 
people  some  good.  .  .  .  Pardon  such  as  desire  to  trample 
upon  the  dust  of  a  poor  worm,  for  they  are  Thy  people  too." 

Cromwell's  death  was  followed  by  a  year  of  anarchy.  As 
the  Commonwealth  was  founded  on  the  army  and  not 
on  the  consent  of  the  people  of  England,  its  continuance 
depended  on  the  army's  finding  a  successor  of  the  same 
metal  as  the  great  Protector.  But  that  was  impossible. 
Oliver  was  succeeded  by  his  inoffensive  and  incapable 
son,  Richard,  who  in  May,  1659,  resigned  an  office  calling 
for  powers  which  he  did  not  possess.  Then  the  "Rump" 
came  back,  once  more  pretending  that  it  was  the  author- 
itative government  of  England.      Sections  of  the  soldiery 


'  Dunkirk  was  held  only  till  1662,  when  Charles  II.  sold  it  to  France. 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritaji  Revohiiion     261 


disputed  the  claim  and  rose  in  rebellion.  Clearly  the  only 
escape  from  the  intolerable  imbroglio  was  to  call  back  the 
son  of  the  dead  king.  The  people  themselves  were  more 
than  willing,  but  to  insure  success  some  resolute  man  at  the 
head  of  an  armed  force  would  have  to  take  the  initiative. 
The  man  wanted  was  found  in  General  George  Monk,  one 
of  Cromwell's  most  capable  lieutenants  and  his  representa- 
tive in  Scotland.      Monk,  at  the  head  of  his  soldiers,  came   Monk  calk 

i")3.ck.  the 

to  London,  and  calling  back  the  surviving  members  of  the  stuarts. 
Long  Parliament  obliged  them  to  dissolve  after  issuing  writs 
for  a  new  election.  With  the  way  thus  cleared,  Charles  II. 
from  his  exile  in  Holland  issued  a  general  pardon,  and 
when  the  new  Parliament  met  was  enthusiastically  invited 
to  mount  the  throne  of  his  ancestors.  Thq  new  Parlia- 
ment declared  that  "the  government  of  this  kingdom  is, 
and  ought  to  be,  by  king.  Lords,  and  Commons."  When 
Charles  entered  London  on  May  28,  1660,  the  houses  emp- 
tied their  eager  population  upon  street  and  square,  and  the 
reimpatriated  king  was  cheered  like  a  conqueror. 

The  Restoration.     Charles  II.  (1660-85)  <^^^^  James  II. 

(1685-88). 

Charles  II.  was  one  of  the  most  popular  monarchs  Eng-  Character  of 
land  ever  had,  but  his  popularity  was  due  not  so  much  to 
his  virtues  as  to  his  vices.  To  understand  this  remarkable 
circumstance,  we  must  remember  that  the  Restoration  is  a 
general  movement  of  reaction.  It  marks  not  merely  a  return 
from  the  Puritan  experiment  of  government,  but  also  a  re- 
vulsion from  the  austere  and  colorless  scheme  of  life  which 
the  Puritans  had  imposed  upon  society.  Like  one  who 
had  thirsted  a  long  while,  the  Englishman  of  the  Restora- 
tion threw  himself  greedily  upon  splendor  and  distractions. 
Now  Charles  II.  had  lived  long  in  France,  and  there  his  self- 


262      The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution 


His  political 
opportunism. 


The  reaction. 


The  revolution 
not  in  vain. 


indulgent  nature  had  drunk  its  fill  of  the  gayety  and  licen- 
tiousness which  characterized  the  sumptuous  court  of  Louis 
XIV.  Upon  his  restoration  Charles  became  the  apostle  of 
French  manners  in  England;  profligacy  became  the  fashion 
of  the  day,  and  the  king  added  to  his  constitutional  function 
of  sovereign  the  far  more  congenial  role  of  master  of  the 
revels.  The  country',  out  of  sorts  with  the  Puritan  ideals, 
applauded,  admired  its  sovereign's  witty  sallies  and  studied 
courtesy,  and  joined  the  dance  and  sounded  the  pipe  around 
the  "Merry  Monarch"  of  an  England  once  again  resolved 
to  be  likewise  merry. 

Charles  had  a  good  deal  of  natural  sagacity,  but  little  en- 
ergy and  no  moral  fibre.  In  the  end  his  resolutions  usually 
succumbed  .to  his  indolence.  His  pleasures  went  before 
everything  else,  and  when  a  conflict  threatened  with  his 
ministers  or  Parliament,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  giving  way, 
with  the  joke  that  whatever  happened  he  did  not  care  to 
start  again  upon  his  travels.  A  monarch  so  intelligent  and 
supple,  so  unencumbered  with  Stuart  obstinacy,  was  likely 
to  make  himself  both  popular  and  secure. 

No  sooner  was  the  monarchy  restored  than  the  desire 
seized  the  victors  to  be  revenged  upon  their  Puritan  ad- 
versaries. The  king's  general  pardon  issued  from  Hol- 
land was  subject  to  parliamentarj'  revision,  and  the  Par- 
liament, far  more  vindictive  than  the  sovereign,  resolved 
to  punish  all  who  had  been  instrumental  in  bringing 
Charles  I.  to  death.  Thirteen  revolutionists  were  exe- 
cuted, and  a  contemptible  and  revolting  vengeance  was 
wreaked  upon  the  body  of  the  great  Cromwell.  It  was 
dragged  from  its  tomb  and  suspended  with  iron  chains  from 
the  gallows. 

Such  scenes  apart,,  the  Restoration  was  far  less  violent 
than  similar  events  in  history,  owing  largely,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted, to  the  humanity  of  the  king.    Yet  to  the  defeated 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution     263 

and  dejected  Puritans,  whose  leading  survivor  was  the  great 
poet  Mihon,  it  looked  as  if  the  return  of  Charles  had  closed 
upon  them  the  gates  of  Paradise,  and  made  vain  the  civil 
struggle  of  the  past  twenty  years.  But  that  was  not  quite 
the  case.  As  the  Petition  of  Right  and  most  of  the  early 
enactments  of  the  Long  Parliament  had  received  the  royal 
assent,  they  remained  in  vigor,  thereby  substantially  reduc- 
ing the  royal  prerogative.  Nevertheless,  the  king's  powers 
v.ere  still  so  great  that  he  might  plot  for  the  overthrow 
of  the  Constitution,  and  make  it  advisable  for  the  people  to 
cut  down  still  further  his  authority.  In  that  case  a  new 
conflict  would  arise.  But  the  danger  of  it  for  the  present 
was  slight.  Charles  II.  was  an  unenterprising  reveller,  and 
the  people  in  their  reckless  access  of  loyalty  might  almost 
have  applauded  an  attempted  usurpation. 

The  Cavalier  Parliament,  as  Charles's  second  Parliament,   The  Cavalier 
convened  in  1661  and  allowed  to  hold  power  for  eighteen   f66l-7T"^' 
years,  was  significantly  called,  completely  expressed  this  re- 
actionary sentiment  of  the  country — it  was  more  royal  than 
the  king.     One  of  its  first  acts  was  to  vote  that  no  one  could 
lawfully  take  arms  against  the  sovereign,  that  is,  it  affirmed 
what  was  called  the  doctrine  of  non-resistance.     Such  a 
legislature  seemed  to  be  separated  by  a  chasm  of  ages  from 
the  Long  Parliament.     But  the  most  pressing  question  for 
which  the  Parliament  had  to  find  a  solution  was  the  question 
of  religion.     During  the  last  twenty  years  every  conceivable 
form  of  Protestant  dissent  had  sprung  into  existence  and 
found  supporters.     Were  these  sects  to  be  tolerated  or  was   Intoleranreof 
England  to  go  back  to  a  uniform  national  Church?     In  the   p^iiameiT 
Cavalier  Parliament — a  body  of  royalists  and  reactionaries — 
there  was  only  one  opinion:  the  Church  of  England  and 
nothing  but  the  Church  of  England.     It  undertook,  there- 
fore, to  restore  the  historical  religion  and  persecute  every 
deviation  with  relentless  severity. 


264     The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution 


A  new  Act  of 

Uniformit}', 
1662. 


The  Dis- 
senters. 


Repressive 
legislation. 


Catholicism 
is  the  enemy. 


In  the  year  1662  the  ParHament  passed  a  new  Act  of 
Uniformity.  By  its  provisions  the  Prayer  Book  was  made 
obhgatory,  and  two  thousand  clergymen  who  would  not 
bend  their  necks  to  the  yoke  were  ejected  from  their  livings. 
Among  the  dismissed  ministers  were  to  be  found  Presby- 
terians, Independents  (also  called  Congregationalists) ,  and 
Baptists,  most  of  them  zealous  and  honorable  men,  who,  as 
they  did  not  accept  the  national  Church,  were  henceforth 
classed  together  as  Dissenters. 

In  the  religious  history  of  England  this  formal  and  definite 
ejection  of  the  Puritan  element  from  the  Church  marks  a 
notable  mile-stone.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Puritans 
in  general  had  not  wished  to  separate  from  the  national 
Church,  but  desired  rather  to  so  modify  its  forms  that  it 
might  include  or  "comprehend"  them.  From  now  on  all 
hope  of  "comprehension"  was  given  up.  The  Dissenters, 
of  whatever  color,  accepted  their  exclusion  from  the  Church 
of  England  as  an  irrevocable  fact,  and  henceforth  directed 
all  their  efforts  toward  acquiring  toleration  for  their  own 
distinct  forms  of  worship. 

But  the  Cavalier  Parliament  was  the  last  body  in  the 
world  to  give  ear  to  a  request  for  religious  liberty.  As  in  its 
opinion  the  proper  way  to  treat  Dissenters  was  to  suppress 
them,  it  developed  a  highly  perfected  system  of  persecution. 
In  the  year  1664  it  passed  the  Conventicle  Act,  by  which  the 
meetings  of  Dissenters  for  religious  purposes  were  punished 
with  fines  culminating  in  transportation;  and  a  year  later 
(1665)  there  followed  the  Five  Mile  Act,  by  the  terms  of 
which  no  Dissenting  minister  was  allowed  to  teach  school  or 
reside  within  five  miles  of  any  town  or  place  where  he  had 
once  held  a  cure. 

It  is  not  probable  that  the  Cavalier  Parliament  would  have 
insisted  on  the  national  creed  with  such  vehemence,  if  it 
had  not  been  persuaded  that  toleration  granted  to  the  Dis- 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution     265 


senters  would  open  a  loop-hole  for  the  Catholics.  And  just 
then  the  suspicion  against  Catholicism  was  stronger  in  the 
land  than  ever,  because  of  the  secret  machinations  of  the 
court  in  its  behalf.  Had  the  facts  that  were  only  whispered 
in  the  palace-passages  been  known  at  Westminster,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  religious  legislation  would  have 
been  even  more  stringent  than  it  was;  for  Charles,  although 
afraid  to  publish  the  truth,  had  secretly  embraced  Cathol- 
icism. 

A  monarch  who  identified  himself  so  little  in  religious  mat-   The  foreign 
ters  with  his  people  was  not  likely  to  serve  them  in  the  for-   charks. 
eign  field.     In  fact,  his  guidance  of  England  was  of  a  piece 
with  his  superficial  and  selfish  view  of  life.     He  disliked  the 
bluff  republican  Dutch  and  admired  the  sumptuous  Louis 
XIV.  of  France,  and  governed  his  conduct  accordingly. 

We  have  noticed  the  growing  commercial  rivalry  between   First  Dutch 
the  Dutch  and  the  English.     The  Navigation  Act,  passed  in   Restoration 
165 1  by  the  "  Rump,"  and  the  war  that  followed  were  evi-   1664-67. 
dences  of  it.     When  to  a  number  of  ancient  jealousies,  ex- 
cited in  part  by  conflicting  colonial  claims,  was  added  the 
animosity  created  by  the  formal  reenactment  of  the  Navi- 
gation Act,  war  could  not  long  be  averted.     For  three  years 
(1664-67)  the  adversaries  sought  one  another  upon  all  the 
seas;  but  when  peace  was  signed,  the  Dutch  were  obliged  to 
cede  their  American  colony,  New  Amsterdam,  which  was  re- 
named New  York  in  honor  of  James,  duke  of  York  and 
brother  of  the  king. 

This  was  the  time  of  the  ascendancy  of  France  in  Euro-  Charles  leans 
pean  politics.  The  leading  fact  of  the  general  situation  was  ^^^^  ranee, 
that  Louis  XIV.  was  planning  to  extend  his  territory  at  the 
expense  of  his  neiglibors.  The  logical  policy  of  England, 
as  the  rival  of  France,  would  have  been  to  support  the  vic- 
tim against  the  aggressor;  but  Charles  looked  at  the  question 
not  from  the  general  but  from  the  personal  point  of  view. 


266     The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution 


Second  Dutch 
War  of  the 
Restoration, 
1672-74. 


Naturally,  his  riotous  life  kept  him  involved  in  constant 
money  difficulties,  as  fortunes  were  flung  away  on  entertain- 
ments, or  were  lavished  on  courtiers  and  mistresses.  To 
get  money,  therefore,  and  more  money  became  Charles's 
great  object  in  life;  and  Louis  XIV.,  who  was  not  without 
a  shrewd  streak  amid  his  lavishness,  was  perfectly  willing 
to  oblige  his  brother  of  England,  if  he  could  by  this  means 
buy  England's  aid,  or,  at  least,  her  neutrality  in  the  conflicts 
he  anticipated.  Now  the  French  king  began  his  aggressions, 
in  the  year  1667,  by  invading  the  Spanish  Netherlands;  but 
after  taking  a  few  towns  he  was  forced  to  desist,  chiefly  owing 
to  the  energetic  protest  of  the  Dutch,  supported  temporarily 
by  England  and  Sweden.  No  wonder  that  the  haughty 
Louis  resolved  to  have  revenge  on  this  nation  of  traders  and 
republicans.  By  the  secret  Treaty  of  Dover  (1670)  he  won 
over  Charles  by  a  handsome  sum  to  join  him  in  his  projected 
war  against  the  Dutch;  and  Charles,  in  his  turn,  stipulated 
to  avow  himself  a  Catholic  as  soon  as  the  occasion  served, 
and  to  call  on  Louis  for  military  aid  in  case  his  subjects,  on 
the  news  of  his  conversion,  rose  in  revolt. 

When,  in  the  year  1672,  everything  was  at  length  ready, 
Louis  and  Charles  fell  suddenly  like  two  highwaymen  upon 
the  Dutch,  engaging  in  what  in  England  is  known  as  the 
Second  Dutch  War  of  the  Restoration.  Just  as  the  war  was 
about  to  break  out,  Charles,  not  yet  daring  to  go  the  whole 
length  of  announcing  himself  a  Catholic,  published  a  decree 
of  toleration,  the  so-called  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  which, 
overriding  the  statutes  of  Parliament,  suspended  the  ex- 
ecution of  all  penal  laws  against  Catholics  and  Dissenters. 
Such  a  measure  invites  the  sympathy  of  the  modern  world, 
but  it  is  necessary  to  remember,  in  judging  it,  that  its  motives 
were  impure,  and  that  it  nullified  the  laws  of  England  by  an 
arbitrary  act.  The  outcry  was  general;  and  when  Parlia- 
ment met  it   insisted  on  the  king's  withdrawing  his  Dec- 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution     267 

laration.  Reluctantly  Charles  yielded  (1673),  but  with  this 
retreat  the  war  had  lost  its  interest  for  him;  and  as  the  Eng- 
lish people  were  learning  to  feel  more  and  more  strongly  that 
their  real  enemy  was  the  French  and  not  the  Dutch,  he  gave 
way  to  popular  pressure  and  concluded  peace  (1674).  Thus 
the  treason  hatched  out  in  the  Treaty  of  Dover  came  to  noth- 
ing, except  in  so  far  as  it  involved  the  Dutch  in  another  he- 
roic combat  for  their  life  and  liberty.  So  stubborn  was  their 
defence  under  their  Stadtholder,  William  III.  of  Orange, 
that  Louis  XIV.,  baffled  and  discouraged,  finally  followed 
Charles's  example  and  withdrew  from  the  struggle  (Peace  of 
Nimwegen,  1678). 

But  Parliament  was  not  satisfied  with  the  victory  it  had  The  Test  Ace. 
won  in  the  matter  of  the  Declaration.  The  members  were  ^  '^^' 
now  so  thoroughly  suspicious  of  the  secret  Catholic  parti- 
sanship of  the  court  that  they  added  a  crowning  measure 
to  their  intolerant  religious  legislation,  the  Test  Act,  which 
provided  that  all  persons  holding  office  under  the  crown 
should  publicly  receive  the  sacrament  according  to  Angli- 
can custom.  In  consequence  of  this  act,  which  tested  and 
weighed  every  man  by  his  faith,  only  avowed  adherents  of 
the  Church  of  England  could  henceforth  hold  office,  and  no 
less  a  person  than  the  duke  of  York,  the  king's  brother  and 
heir,  had  to  resign  the  post  of  Lord  High  Admiral  because 
he  was  a  Catholic. 

But  the  spectre  of  Catholicism  continued  to  stalk  through  The  "  Popish 

Plot  " 

the  land,  leading  at  times  to  outbreaks  which  would  be 
ludicrous,  if  they  had  not  been  so  profoundly  tragical.  The 
most  famous  of  them  is  of  the  year  1678  and  is  known  as  the 
"Popish  Plot."  A  certain  Titus  Oates,  a  discredited  ad- 
venturer and  confessed  scoundrel,  told  a  rambling  story 
before  a  magistrate  to  the  effect  that  he  had  discovered  a 
conspiracy  on  the  part  of  the  Catholics  to  institute  in  Eng- 
land another  St.  Bartholomew.     Although  Oates's  story  was 


268     The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution 


The  death  of 
Charles. 


Whigs  and 
Tories. 


palpably  absurd,  it  won  general  credence,  and  as  a  result  of 
the  frantic  agitation  which  seized  the  country  a  number  of 
prominent  Catholics  were  executed,  others  confined  in  the 
Tower,  and  a  corollary  was  added  to  the  Test  Act  by  which 
Catholics  were  barred  from  the  House  of  Lords,  the  only 
place  where  they  had  not  hitherto  been  disturbed. 

Charles  died  in  the  year  1685,  after  a  reign  of  twenty-five 
years.  On  his  death-bed  he  privately  received  the  sacrament 
according  to  the  Catholic  rite,  and  then,  keeping  up  his  life- 
long comedy  to  the  last,  died  decorously  according  to  the 
prescriptions  of  the  national  Church. 

The  reign  of  Charles  is  marked  by  an  advance  in  the  po- 
litical life  of  the  nation  which  merits  close  attention.  The 
gushing  loyalty  which  accompanied  the  first  acts  of  the 
Cavalier  Parliament  did  not  last.  The  distrust  engendered 
by  the  Catholic  tendencies  of  the  court  had  already  impaired 
it,  when  the  prospect  of  the  succession  of  the  Catholic  duke  of 
York  gave  it  a  staggering  blow.  A  party  called  the  Whigs 
arose  which  aimed  to  exclude  the  duke  of  York  from  the 
throne  on  the  ground  of  religion;  another  party,  called  the 
Tories,!  stood  stanchly  by  the  principle  of  legitimate  suc- 
cession. Charles,  with  the  support  of  the  Tories,  managed 
at  the  close  of  his  reign  to  score  a  triumph  over  the  Whigs, 
but  the  fact  remained  that  for  the  first  time  in  the  history 
of  English  Parliamentary  life  there  had  been  created  parties 
with  a  definite  programme  and  something  like  a  permanent 
organization.  From  that  day  to  this,  a  period  of  over  two 
centuries,  the  WTiigs  and  Tories,  latterly  under  the  names  of 
Liberals  and  Conser^'atives,  have  disputed  the  government 
of  England  between  them. 


It  will  be  seen  that  the  succession 


'These  names  were  originally  taunts,  flung  by  excited  orators  at  the 
heads  of  their  opponents.  Tory  is  derived  from  the  Irish  and  signifies 
robber.  Whig  comes  probably  from  Whiggam,  a  cry  with  which  the  Scotch 
peasants  exhorted  their  horses.  Applied  as  a  party  name,  it  was  intended 
to  convey  the  idea  of  a  rebellious  Covenanter. 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution     269 

issue  in  which  the  parties  had  their  origin  was  intimately 
associated  with  the  question  of  reh'gion.  The  Tories  drew 
their  strength  from  the  uncompromising  supporters  of  the 
Church  of  England,  while  the  Whigs,  standing  for  a  Protes- 
tant succession,  found  it  profitable  to  lean  upon  the  Dissen- 
ters and  advocate  religious  toleration  for  all  Protestants.  If 
ever  the  Whigs  came  to  power  the  Dissenters  could  count 
on  something  being  done  for  them,  while  as  long  as  the 
Tories  ruled  the  state  they  were  sure  to  be  oppressed. 

James  II.  (1685-88). 

James  II.,  who  succeeded  his  brother  Charles,  was  not  James  II. 
only  an  open  and  avowed  Catholic,  which,  of  course,  raised 
an  impassable  barrier  between  him  and  his  subjects,  but  he 
was  also  imbued  with  the  same  ideas  of  Divine  Right  as 
his  father  Charles  I.,  and  he  held  to  them  as  stubbornly  as 
ever  that  monarch  had  done.  Worst  of  all,  he  had  no  touch 
of  the  political  cleverness  of  Charles  II.  Under  these  circum- 
stances the  new  reign  did  not  promise  well.  James  was, 
indeed,  received  at  first  with  some  warmth,  but  a  succession 
of  rash  and  ill-judged  measures  reduced  him  rapidly  to  a 
state  of  icy  isolation. 

As  James  was  a  Catholic  among  suspicious  and  embittered  Catholic 
Protestants,  he  should,  at  the  very  least,  have  kept  quiet,  james. 
But  he  seems  to  have  been  possessed  with  the  idea  that  he 
had  been  made  king  for  the  express  purpose  of  furthering 
the  Catholic  cause.  He  did  not  even  trouble  himself  to 
proceed  cautiously.  Overriding  the  Test  Act,  he  presently 
put  his  coreligionists  into  important  positions  in  the  army 
and  the  civil  service.  Soon  after,  in  1687,  he  published,  in 
imitation  of  his  brother,  a  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  sus- 
pending all  penalties  against  Catholics  and  Dissenters.  He 
justified  his  action  in  these  matters  by  what  he  called  the 
royal  dispensing  power,  which  was  supposed  to  give  him  the 


270     The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution 


Monmouth 
and  "the 
Bloody 
Assizes." 


Birth  of  a  son. 


right  not  to  abolish  laws,  but  to  delay  their  execution.  If  he 
really  had  any  such  power,  it  was  plain  that  he  was  superior 
to  the  law,  and  the  civil  war  had  been  in  vain.  Regardless  of 
the  universal  discontent  he  published,  in  1688,  a  Second 
Declaration,  and  ordered  it  to  be  read  from  all  the  pulpits. 
Most  of  the  clergy  refused  to  conform  to  this  tyrannical 
order,  and  seven  bishops  presented  to  the  king  a  written 
protest.  James's  answer  was  an  order  that  legal  proceed- 
ings be  taken  against  them.  Immense  excitement  gathered 
around  the  trial,  which  occurred  in  June,  1688. 

Meanwhile  other  irregularities  and  violences  of  the  king 
had  added  to  his  unpopularity.  In  the  year  of  his  accession, 
the  Protestant  duke  of  Monmouth,  an  illegitimate  son  of 
Charles  II.,  had  invaded  England  with  a  small  force,  but 
was  defeated,  captured,  and  executed.  James  might  have 
been  satisfied  with  this  success.  He  preferred,  however,  a 
general  persecution.  He  sent  into  the  west,  among  the 
people  who  had  supported  Monmouth,  the  savage  and 
infamous  Judge  Jeffreys,  for  the  purpose  of  ferreting  out 
Monmouth's  adherents.  The  mockery  of  justice  engaged 
in  by  Jeffreys  is  known  as  "the  Bloody  Assizes."  The  in- 
human monster  was  not  satisfied  until  he  had  hanged  three 
hundred  and  twenty  victims,  mostly  poor  peasants,  and  trans- 
ported eight  hundred  and  forty  to  the  West  Indies.  The 
odium  of  these  misdeeds  fell,  of  course,  upon  the  king. 

All  this  was  for  a  tune  put  up  with  by  the  people  because 
the  next  heir  to  the  throne,  James's  daughter  Mary,  who  was 
the  child  of  his  first  marriage  and  the  wife  of  William  of 
Orange,  was  a  Protestant.  The  nation  looked  forward  to 
her  succession  with  the  more  pleasure  as  her  husband,  too, 
was,  on  his  mother's  side,  a  Stuart.'  When,  however,  James's 
second  wife  gave  birth,  in  June,  1688,  to  a  son,  who  by  the 
English  law  would  take  precedence  over  Mary,  consterna- 

'  See  Genealogical  Table  on  page  565. 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution     271 

tion  seized  the  whole  people.  The  son,  it  was  foreseen, 
would  be  educated  in  the  Catholic  religion,  and  thus  the 
Catholic  dynasty  would  be  perpetuated.  As  the  birth  of  the 
son  and  the  trial  of  the  seven  bishops  occurred  about  the 
same  time  (June,  1688),  England  was  fiUed  with  excitement 
from  end' to  end.  Seizing  the  opportunity,  a  number  of  lead- 
ing Englishmen,  representing  both  the  Whig  and  Tory  par- 
ties, sent  a  secret  letter  inviting  William  of  Orange  and  his 
wife  Mary  to  come  to  England's  rescue. 

In  November,  1688,  William  landed  in  England,  and  William 
joyously  and  spontaneously  the  people  of  all  classes  rallied  England, 
around  him.  When  the  army  which  James  sent  against  him 
refused  to  fight,  the  wretched  king  at  last  awakened  to  the 
fact  that  he  stood  alone.  Suddenly  and  utterly  discour- 
aged, he  sent  his  wife  and  child  to  France,  and  shortly  after 
followed  in  person.  Perhaps  never  in  history  had  there 
been  a  more  swift  and  bloodless  revolution. 

WTien  Parliament  met,  it  was  confronted  by  the  difficult  Thereorgani 
task  of  harvesting  the  fruits  of  the  popular  success.  It  be-  mo',iarchv. 
gan  by  declaring  James's  reign  at  an  end,  and  offering  the 
throne  conjointly  to  William  and  Mary.  Thereby  it  sol- 
emnly committed  itself  to  the  view  that  the  king  was  not 
Heaven's  anointed,  called  to  the  throne  by  hereditary  Divine 
Right,  but  was  the  choice  of  people  and  Parliament.  Hence- 
forth a  king  of  England  had  no  other  claim  to  the  crown 
than  a  statute  of  the  realm.  An  act  of  Parliament  had  made 
him,  an  act  also  might  undo  him.  Then  the  victorious 
Parliament  proceeded  to  complete  the  edifice  of  its  power. 
Throughout  the  seventeenth  century  the  conflict  had  raged 
between  king  and  Parliament  over  their  respective  spheres 
of  control.  The  Petition  of  Right  (1628)  was  the  first  act 
which  effectually  clipped  the  wings  of  the  monarchy.  The 
Long  Parliament  was  engaged  in  completing  the  work,  when 
the  civil  war  intervened  and  buried  the  issue  beneath  the  din 


2/2      The  Stuarts  a?id  the  Puritan  Revolution 


The  Bill  of 
Rights,  1689. 


The  Tolera- 
tion Act. 


of  arms.  At  length  the  flood  of  loyalty,  once  again  set  in 
motion  by  ten  years  of  military  rule,  brought  the  Stuarts 
back  to  the  throne,  but  did  not  restore  them  to  the  preroga- 
tive of  their  ancestors.  The  only  means  of  tyranny  left  in 
their  hands  was  the  claim  that  as  divinely  appointed  kings 
they  were  above  the  laws  and  could  suspend  their  execution 
when  they  pleased.  The  cautious  Charles  had  exercised 
this  supposed  right  charily,  but  the  infatuated  James  had 
built  up  his  system  of  tyranny  upon  it.  This  last  loop-hole 
of  arbitrary  rule  the  Parliament  now  proceeded  to  stop  up 
by  means  of  a  Bill  of  Rights  (1689),  wherein  the  so-called 
dispensing  power  was  declared  abolished,  and  the  king  was 
in  every  respect  subjected  to  the  law.  The  Bill  of  Rights 
further  enumerated  and  forbade  anew  all  the  illegal  acts  of 
James,  and  formally  and  solemnly  excluded  Roman  Catho- 
lics from  the  throne.  The  measure  ended  the  long  consti- 
tutional struggle  in  England  by  giving  the  victory  and  the 
fruits  thereof  to  the  Parliament,  with  the  result  that  from 
this  time  on  to  our  own  day  the  Parliament  has  controlled 
the  government  of  England. 

If  the  revolution  of  1688  closed  the  political  conflict  by 
seating  the  Parliament  in  the  place  of  power,  it  also  led  to  a 
measure  which  promised  a  solution  of  the  long-standing  re- 
ligious troubles.  Chiefly  with  the  support  of  the  Whigs,  Par- 
liament passed,  almost  simultaneously  with  the  Bill  of  Rights, 
a  Toleration  Act,  conceding  to  the  Dissenters  the  right  of 
public  worship.  The  Test  Act,  which  barred  them  from 
office,  was  not  repealed,  but  they  could  at  least  serve  their 
God  as  they  pleased,  and  that,  after  the  long  persecution 
they  had  suffered,  was  a  sufficient  blessing  for  the  present. 
Indeed,  it  was  not  until  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury that  the  final  disabilities  resting  upon  non-Anglicans 
were  removed.  But  if  the  current  bigotry  of  high  and  low 
balked  at  more  than  partial  alleviation  for  dissenting  Prot- 


! 


The  Stuarts  and  the  Puritan  Revolution     273 

estants,  it  was  plain  that  after  the  late  experience  with  a 
Catholic  king,  no  concession  at  all  would  be  made  to  the 
adherents  of  the  Pope.  Tests  and  penal  laws  continued 
therefore  in  full  force,  and  made  life  a  very  heavy  burden  to 
Catholic  Englishmen  for  a  long  time  to  come.  But  the 
Toleration  Act,  by  satisfying  at  least  the  old  Puritan  element, 
greatly  promoted  religious  peace. 

The  literature  of  the  seventeenth  century  presents  in  sharp  Puritan  and 
contrast  the  two  theories  of  life  which  combated  each  other  literature, 
under  the  party  names  of  Cavalier  and  Roundhead.  The 
moral  severity  and  the  noble  aspiration  of  Puritanism  found 
sublime  expression  in  John  Milton  ("Paradise  Lost,"  1667), 
and  a  simple-minded  eulogist  in  John  Bunyan  ("Pilgrim's 
Progress,"  1675).  But  the  literary  reign  of  these  men  and 
their  followers  was  short,  for  the  Restoration  quickly  buried 
them  under  its  frivolity  and  laughter.  Inevitably  literature 
followed  the  currents  of  the  contemporary  life,  and  Milton 
and  Bunyan  were  succeeded  by  a  school  of  licentious  dram- 
atists and  literary  triflers.  John  Dryden  (1631-1701),  a 
man  of  high  gifts  which  suffered  by  contact  with  a  hollow 
age,  is  the  great  figure  of  the  Restoration  and  rises  head  and 
shoulders  above  his  Liliputian  contemporaries. 

If  the  Restoration  were  to  be  judged  merely  by  its  contri-  Revival  of 
butions  to  literature,  it  would  not  merit  high  consideration. 
It  was,  as  we  have  seen,  a  reaction  from  the  boundless 
idealism  of  the  previous  period,  and  turned  men  to  definite  in- 
tellectual pursuits.  The  scientific  spirit,  having  its  roots  in 
man's  curiosity  about  himself  and  his  environment,  began 
to  stir  once  more,  and  for  its  cultivation  was  founded,  in 
1660,  the  Royal  Society.  That  England  made  rapid  strides 
in  philosophy  and  physics  is  witnessed  by  the  great  names 
of  Locke  and  Newton.  Their  work,  conducted  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  collection  of  facts  through  patient  observation  of 
nature,  helped  to  lay  the  foundations  of  modern  science. 


science. 


CHAPTER  Xil 


The  work  of 
Richelieu. 


The  regency 
of  Anne  of 
Austria. 


THE    ASCENDANCY    OF    FRANCE    UNDER    LOUIS    XIV. 
(1643-1715) 

References:  Wakeman,  The  Ascendancy  of  France,  pp. 
153-64,  Chapters  IX.,  X.,  XI.,  XIV.,  XV.;  Kitchin, 
History  of  France,  Vol.  III.,  pp.  58-360;  Hassall, 
Mazarin;  Hassall,  Louis  XIV.;  Ad.^^ms,  Growth  of  the 
French  Nation,  Chapter  XIII.;  Perkins,  France  under 
Richelieu  and  Mazarin. 

Source  Readings:  Duke  of  St.  Simon,  Memoirs  of  the, 
4  vols,  (a  brilliant  gallery  of  portraits  of  courtiers  and 
ladies);  Madame  de  Sevigx^,  Letters  of ;  Robinson, 
Readings,  Chapter  XXI.  (RicheUeu,  Colbert,  Louis's 
Court,  etc.). 

The  work  of  Richelieu,  as  we  have  seen,  cleared  the  way 
for  the  supremacy  of  France  in  Europe.  By  destroying  the 
political  privileges  of  the  Huguenots  and  by  breaking  the 
power  of  the  nobility  he  had  freed  the  royal  authority  from 
the  last  restraints  which  weighed  upon  it,  and  had  rendered 
it  absolute.  At  the  same  time  the  great  minister  had  en- 
gaged France  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  and  had  reaped  for 
her  the  benefits  of  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  (1648).  But 
just  at  this  point,  as  France  was  about  to  assume  a  dominant 
position,  she  was  threatened  once  more,  and  as  it  proved  for 
the  last  time  under  the  old  monarchy,  by  civil  war. 

Richelieu's  king,  Louis  XIII.,  died  only  a  few  months  after 
him,  in  1643,  leaving  behind  a  five-year-old  son,  in  whose 
name  the  queen,  Anne  of  Austria,  assumed  the  regency.    At 

274 


Under  Louis  XIV.  275 

the  same  time  the  post  of  leading  minister,  which  had  been 
occupied  by  RicheHeu,  fell  to  the  confidant  of  the  regent, 
another  churchman  and  an  Italian  by  birth,  Cardinal 
Mazarin.  Trained  under  the  eyes  of  Richelieu,  the  neAv 
minister  tried  to  carry  out  faithfully  his  predecessor's  pro- 
gramme, and  was  rewarded,  like  his  predecessor,  with  the 
aversion  of  the  great  nobles,  the  chief  of  whom  was  the 
famous  general,  the  prince  of  C'^nde.  The  Peace  of  West- 
phalia had  not  yet  been  signed,  when  a  domestic  trouble 
occurred  which  the  nobles  tried  to  make  serve  their  ends. 
The  Parliament  of  Paris  resisted  a  new  tax,  but  before  this 
very  promising  issue  \tas  fairly  under  way  the  nobles,  re- 
joicing in  the  embarrassment  of  the  government,  insinuated 
themselves  into  the  struggle.  Thus,  what  had  been  at  the 
outset  an  intelligent  constitutional  movement,  degenerated 
quickly  into  a  rebellion  of  the  feudal  order  to  recover  its  lost 
authority.  The  moment  the  civil  war,  known  under  the  The  Fronde, 
name  of  the  Fronde,  took  this  shape,  it  deserved  to  fail,  for 
though  France  might  have  profited  by  the  victory  of  a  con- 
stitutional party  committed  to  the  idea  of  popular  control, 
the  country  could  not  consent  to  fall  back  into  the  feudal 
disorder,  from  which  it  had  been  rescued  by  Richelieu.  The 
people,  quick  to  discern  their  own  interest  in  a  quarrel  be- 
tween king  and  nobles,  supported  the  government,  and  after 
a  struggle  of  five  years  (1648-53)  Mazarin  reestablished 
peace  and  order.  The  Fronde  ^  is  the  agony  of  the  feudal 
nobility.  To  be  sure,  the  nobles  retained  their  vast  estates 
and  special  privileges  and  continued  to  enjoy  a  splendid  so- 
cial position,  but  they  degenerated  more  and  more  into  a 


'  The  Fronde  afforiLs  an  uiteresting  comparison  with  the  civil  war  which 
was  being  waged  contemporaneously  in  England.  The  English  constitu- 
■vonal  movement  was  successful,  whereas  the  French  movement  was  not, 
(1)  because  the  English  Parliament  represented  the  nation,  which  was 
not  the  case  with  the  Parliament  of  Paris;  (2)  because  the  English  aristoc- 
racy was  law-abiding  and  patriotic  ;  and  (.^)  because  the  English  possessed 
pohticai  experience  and  had  the  moral  force  to  hold  fast  to  what  they  wanted. 


276 


The  Ascendancy  of  France 


The  Peace  of 
the  Pyrenees, 
1659. 


The  personal 
rule  of 
Louis  XIV. 


nerveless  body  of  docile  courtiers,  content  to  squander  their 
means  and  energies  upon  the  dances  and  dinners  of  Ver- 
sailles. 

The  Peace  of  Westphalia  was  an  arrangement  between 
France  and  the  Austrian  branch  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg. 
Because  the  Spanish  branch,  although  signally  worsted  by 
France  in  conjunction  with  the  Dutch,  was  unwilling  to  Come 
to  terms,  war  between  France  and  Spain  continued  after 
1648.  When  the  Fronde  broke  out,  the  tables  were  turned, 
and  the  balance  inclined  for  some  years  in  favor  of  Spain; 
but  as  soon  as  the  Fronde  was  beaten  down,  Mazarin  was 
able  to  win  back  the  lost  ground  and  force  Spain  to  terms. 
Owing  to  foreign  war  and  internal  revolution,  Spain  was,  in 
fact,  at  her  last  gasp.  When  she  signed  with  France  the 
Peace  of  the  Pyrenees  (1659),  she  signed  away  with  it  the 
last  remnant  of  the  supremacy  which  she  had  once  exercised 
in  Europe.  France,  the  victor,  took  the  place  of  Spain  in  the 
councils  of  the  Continent,  and  signalized  her  triumph  by 
acquiring  certain  territories,  lying  on  the  north  or  French 
slope  of  the  Pyrenees  (Roussillon),  and  by  getting  a  more 
favorable  boundary  toward  the  Spanish  Netherlands  (Artois). 

With  the  glory  of  the  Peace  of  the  Pyrenees  still  lingering 
in  the  skies  of  France,  Mazarin's  life  turned  to  its  setting 
(1661).  He  will  always  be  remembered  among  the  great 
ministers  of  his  adopted  country.  The  young  sovereign, 
Louis  XIV.,  now  stepped  forward  to  take  the  government  in 
hand,  but  when  he  announced  with  quiet  pride  that  he  would 
henceforth  be  his  own  prime  minister,  many  smiled  and 
doubted.  But  he  kept  his  word,  and  while  he  lived  the 
varied  business  of  the  French  Government  was  transacted 
practically  by  himself.  He  is  said  to  have  boasted  once; 
Vetal  dest  moi  (I  am  the  state).  Whether  the  phrase  is  his  or 
not,  it  expresses  admirably  the  spirit  of  his  reign,  for  he  held 
himself  to  be  the  absolute  head  of  the  state,  and  regarded 


Under  Louis  XIV.  277 


his  ministers  not  as  the  responsible  heads  of  departments, 
but  as  clerks.     It  is  characteristic  that  the  sun  was  his  fa- 
vorite emblem,  because  he  was  pleased  to  imagine  that  as 
the  earth  drew  its  sustenance  from  the  central  luminary, 
so  the  life  of  France  emanated  from  himself.     Le  roi-soleil 
(sun-king)  was  the  title  given  him  by  idolizing  courtiers. 
Absolutism,  that  is,  monarchy  strengthened  by  the  ruin  of 
the  feudal  powers,  existed  in  Europe  long  before  Louis  XIV., 
but  the  French  sovereign  now  hedged  it  round  with  a  spe- 
cial divinity.     He  taught  and  put  in  practice  the  doctrine 
that  a  king  was  the  plenipotentiary  of  God,  and  was  like 
the  rest  of  mankind  only  in  his  mortality.     With  this  ex- 
alted idea  in  his  mind  Louis  was  convinced  that  his  only 
fit  background  was  not  the  French  metropolis  and  capital, 
but  a  special  residence  or  court.     By  means  of  his  court, 
which  he  located  at  Versailles,  where  a  whole  royal  city   Louis  and  the 
sprang  into  being  at  his  fiat,  he  was  removed  from  contact  versaUIes. 
with  the  common  herd,  and  could  surround  himself,  like  an 
Oriental  divinity,  with  acolytes  and  worshippers.     Every- 
body knows  how  Versailles  aroused  the  admiration  and  envy 
of  the  world.     That  was  not  so  much  because  of  its,  after  all, 
trivial  splendors,  but  because  its  central  idol  was,  in  the 
words  of  a  contemporary,  "the  greatest  actor  of  majesty 
that  ever  filled  a  throne." 
But  strong  and  omnipresent  as  the  ceremonial  element  was  Perfection  of 

°  ,  .       ^        ,  1        J     •        administration, 

in  Louis's  conception  of  his  office,  he  was  not,  as  already  m- 
dicated,  merely  an  ornamental  sovereign.  Although  but  a 
commonplace  man,  ignorant  and  superstitious,  he  had  a 
high  sense  of  order  and  completeness,  which  enabled  him  to 
carry  Richelieu's  reorganization  of  France  a  considerable 
step  forward.  The  complex  administration  of  government 
was  carefully  divided  into  departments,  and  the  diplomatic 
service,  the  army  and  navy  reached  a  high  degree  of  effi- 
ciency.    But  the  most  original  work  was  done  in  the  field  of 


278 


The  Ascendancy  of  France 


The  economic 
policy  of 
Colbert. 


Louis  becomes 
a  conqueror. 


finance  under  the  guidance  of  the  tireless  Colbert.  Colbert 
(1619-83)  had  no  sooner  been  put  in  control  of  the  treas- 
ury department  than  he  made  an  end  of  the  customary  care- 
lessness and  peculation  and  turned  the  annual  deficit  into  a 
surplus. 

But  Colbert — and  here  lies  his  peculiar  distinction — was 
more  than  a  good  financier;  he  was  an  economic  thinker. 
With  the  science  of  political  economy  as  yet  unborn,  it  was 
a  decided  step  forward  when  Colbert  arrived  at  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  question  of  revenues  must  be  considered  in 
connection  with  the  whole  problem  of  production,  and  that 
the  primary  object  of  a  good  minister  of  finance  should  be 
the  increase  of  the  total  wealth  of  the  nation.  Colbert  there- 
fore undertook  to  foster  agriculture,  manufactures,  and  com- 
merce. He  applied  to  his  country  the  system  known  in  our 
own  day  as  protection,  encouraging  exportation,  and  dis- 
couraging the  importation  of  foreign  products  by  means  of 
a  tariff.  French  manufactures  were  greatly  stimulated,  and 
such  articles  as  silks,  brocades,  laces,  and  glass  acquired  a 
merited  popularity  in  the  markets  of  the  world.  Excellent 
roads  and  canals,  the  necessary  avenues  of  commerce,  were 
constructed  in  all  directions,  and  a  creditable  colonial  activ- 
ity was  unfolded  in  the  West  Indies,  Louisiana,  and  India. 
In  a  word,  France  seemed  intent,  in  the  early  years  of  Louis 
XIV.,  on  matching  the  political  and  military  supremacy  al- 
ready attained,  with  the  more  substantial  supremacy  which 
is  the  result  of  a  long  period  of  commercial  and  industrial 
activity. 

Unfortunately,  the  splendid  Louis  was  not  attracted  by 
the  picture  of  a  reign  of  bourgeois  prosperity.  Though  but 
a  young  man,  he  was  already  the  cynosure  of  Europe.  In 
all  truth  he  could  say  that  he  was  the  first  power  of  the  world. 
But  in  measure  as  he  found  that  his  neighbors  were  no  match 
for  him,  he  began  to  be  tempted  by  the  thought  of  making 


*v^    y^v.- 


UuiuLurg 


Acqulsitioua  of  Louis  XIV 
AciiHlsiliuus  "f  Louis  XV 


SCALE   OF  WILES 


0         51)        ion       150       g"" 


THE  MATTHEWS-NORTHPUP  WOPrS, 


Under  Louis  XIV.  V9 


them  his  dependents.  It  was  not  a  high  ambition,  this,  still 
it  won  the  day  with  him.  In  the  year  1667,  therefore,  Louis 
entered  upon  a  career  of  aggression  and  conquest,  which,  af- 
ter a  few  brilliant  results,  led  to  such  a  succession  of  disas- 
ters that  the  man  whose  progress  had  been  attended  by  clouds 
of  incense  wafted  by  admiring  courtiers,  closed  his  career  in 
ignominy. 

Four  great  wars  substantially  filled  the  rest  of  Louis's  life.   His  wars. 
They  were:  (i)  A  War  with  Spain  for  the  possession  of  the 
Spanish  Netherlands  (1667-68);  (2)  the  War  with  the  Dutch 
(1672-78);  (3)  the  War  of  the  Palatinate  (1688-97);  (4)  the 
War  of  the  Spanish  Succession  (i  701-14). 

When  Louis,  in  the  year  1667,  surveyed  the  political  situ-   Louis  antago- 

1    ^1  1  r    nizes  Europe. 

ation,  and  notnig  his  own  resources  and  the  weakness  ot 
his  neighbors,  resolved  on  a  war  of  conquest,  he  must  have 
debated  carefully  whither  he  had  best  move.  He  decided 
finally  that  it  would  be  wisest  to  extend  the  French  boun- 
daries toward  the  east.  Spain,  intrenched  in  the  Spanish 
Netherlands,  seemed  moribund,  and,  besides,  France  needed 
to  be  strengthened,  most  of  all,  on  this  side.  By  choosing 
to  expand  eastward,  however,  he  was  bound  to  antagonize 
the  three  countries  which  were  directly  threatened  by  this 
move — Spain,  the  Dutch,  and  Germany.  Sooner  or  later, 
tco,  he  was  likely  to  arouse  the  jealousy  of  the  ancient  rival 
of  France,  England.  Did  Louis,  when  he  began  war  so 
lightly,  reckon  with  the  chance  of  a  European  coalition 
against  him?  Probably  not.  He  saw  only  the  contempo- 
rary divisions  of  Europe  and  his  own  brilliant  opportunity, 
and  like  every  other  adventurer  he  let  the  future  take  care 
of  itself. 

In  1667  Louis  suddenly  invaded  the  Spanish  Netherlands.   The  War  of  the 
The  fact  that  he  tried  to  justify  himself  by  putting  forth  some  erkn^, 
very  doubtful  claims  of  his  Spanish  wife,  daughter  of  Philip   ^667-68. 
IV.,  to  these  territories,  only  added  hypocrisy  to  violence. 


28o 


The  Ascendancy  of  France 


The  isolation 
of  the  Dutch. 


The  House  of 
Orange  to  the 

front. 


His  well-appointed  army  took  place  after  place.  Spain  was 
too  weak  to  offer  resistance,  and  if  the  Dutch,  frightened  at 
the  prospect  of  such  a  neighbor  as  Louis,  had  not  bestirred 
themselves,  Louis  would  have  overrun  all  the  Spanish  Neth- 
erlands. The  Triple  Alliance  of  the  Dutch,  England,  and 
Sweden,  formed  by  the  rapid  ingenuity  of  the  republican 
patriot,  John  de  Witt,  who  was  at  this  time  the  leading  spirit 
of  the  Dutch  Government,  bade  Louis  halt.  Louis,  on  oc- 
casion, could  distinguish  the  possible  from  the  impossible. 
In  answer  to  the  threat  of  the  Triple  Alliance,  he  declared 
himself  satisfied  with  a  frontier  strip,  and  retired.  The 
Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  (Aachen)  formally  secured  him  in 
his  bold  acquisition  (1668). 

For  the  next  few  years  Louis  seemed  to  be  dominated  by 
a  single  thought — revenge  upon  the  Dutch.  The  Dutch  had 
been  the  soul  of  the  Triple  Alliance;  the  Dutch  primarily 
hindered  his  expansion  eastward.  The  plan  he  now  formed 
was  to  sever  the  Dutch  from  all  their  friends  and  allies,  and 
then  fall  upon  them  unawares.  The  diplomatic  campaign 
preliminary  to  the  declaration  of  war  was  crowned  with 
complete  success.  Sweden  and  the  emperor  were  secured 
by  treaties  of  neutrality,  and  the  despicable  Charles  II.,  by 
the  Treaty  of  Dover  (1670),  was  even  pledged  to  join  the 
forces  of  England  with  the  French  in  the  proposed  war.  In 
the  spring  of  1672  everything  was  ready.  While  the  com- 
bined French  and  English  fleets  engaged  the  Dutch  fleet  un- 
der the  celebrated  Admiral  Ruyter  in  the  Channel,  the  French 
army,  led  by  Conde  and  Turenne,  invaded  the  territory  of 
the  Seven  United  Provinces  by  following  the  course  of  the 
Rhine. 

In  a  few  weeks  most  of  the  provinces,  owing  to  the  decay 
into  which  the  too  secure  de  Witt  had  permitted  the  army 
and  fortresses  to  fall,  were  in  the  hands  of  the  French.  And 
now  a  terrible  indignation  swept  over  the  alarmed  people. 


Under  Louis  XIV.  281 

They  fell  upon  and  murdered  de  Witt,  and  would  be  satis- 
fied with  nothing  less  than  the  triumphant  reinstatement  of 
the  House  of  Orange,  which,  at  the  close  of  the  Spanish  war, 
the  republican  party,  largely  at  the  prompting  of  de  Witt, 
had  banished  from  the  public  service.  In  an  outburst  of  en- 
thusiasm William  III.  of  Orange  was  made  Stadtholder  and 
supreme  commander  on  sea  and  land.  William,  a  young  The  character 
man  but  twenty-one  years  of  age,  was  far  from  being  a  gen- 
ius, but  he  was  sprung  from  heroic  stock,  and  the  responsi- 
bility for  a  nation's  safekeeping,  put  upon  him  in  a  stern 
crisis,  brought  out  his  best  qualities.  The  English  am- 
bassador invited  him  to  look  about  him  and  submit,  urging 
that  it  was  easy  to  see  that  the  Dutch  were  lost.  "I  know 
one  means  of  never  seeing  it,"  he  replied,  "to  die  on  the  last 
dyke."  It  was  this  spirit  that  now  steeled  the  temper  of  the 
little  people  and  enabled  them  to  emulate  the  deeds  of  their 
ancestors  against  Spain. 

Before  Louis  could  take  the  heart  of  the  Netherlands,  the  The  Dutch 
city  of  Amsterdam,  the  Dutch  had,  at  the  order  of  William,  general, 
cut  the  dykes  and  restored  their  country  to  the  original 
dominion  of  the  waters.  Louis  found  himself  checked;  his 
opportunity  was  lost.  But  Europe  was  now  thoroughly 
aroused,  and  before  many  months  had  passed,  there  had  ral- 
lied to  the  cause  of  the  Dutch  the  emperor,  the  states  of  the 
Empire,  and  Spain.  In  the  year  1674  the  position  of  Louis 
was  still  further  weakened.  In  that  year  the  state  of  Eng- 
lish public  opinion  forced  Charles  II.  to  abandon  Louis  and 
make  his  peace  with  the  Dutch.  Louis  was  thereupon  left 
to  face  a  great  continental  coalition,  with  no  ally  but  remote 
Sweden.  The  odds  in  a  struggle  with  all  Europe  were  pat- 
ently against  Louis,  and  although  the  superiority  of  French 
organization  and  French  generalship  enabled  him  to  win 
every  pitched  battle  with  his  foes,  he  was  glad  enough  to  end 
the  war  when  peace  was  offered.     By  the  Treaty  of  Nim- 


282 


The  Ascendancy  of  France 


Louis  takes 
Strasbursr. 


The  Revoca- 
tion of  the 
Edict  of 
Nantes,  16S5. 


wegen  (1678)  he  had  to  acknowledge  his  failure  in  his  main 
purpose,  for  the  Dutch  did  not  lose  a  foot  of  territory,  but  he 
was  permitted,  in  recognition  of  his  military  successes,  to 
incorporate  the  Franche  Comte,  a  detached  eastern  posses- 
sion of  the  king  of  Spain,  with  France. 

The  second  war,  too,  although  it  had  roused  a  European 
alliance  against  Louis,  had  brought  him  its  prize  of  a  new 
province.  Louis  was  now  at  the  zenith  of  his  glory.  The 
adulation  of  his  court  became  more  and  more  slavish,  until 
the  flattered  monarch  imagined  that  he  could  do  everything 
with  impunity.  His  imperious  temper  is  well  exhibited  by 
an  event  of  the  year  1681.  In  a  period  of  complete  peace 
he  fell  upon  the  city  of  Strasburg,  the  last  stronghold  of  the 
Empire  in  Alsace,  and  incorporated  it  with  France. 

The  bigotry  which  had  been  inculcated  in  the  king 
from  his  youth,  grew  confirmed  as  he  entered  middle  life, 
and  now  involved  him  in  a  monstrous  action.  Originally 
frivolous  and  pleasure-loving,  he  had,  as  the  doors  of  young 
manhood  closed  upon  him,  fallen  under  the  influence  of  a 
devout  Catholic  lady,  Madame  de  Maintenon,  the  gover- 
ness of  some  of  his  children.  To  Madame  de  Maintenon 
the  eradication  of  heresy  was  a  noble  work,  and  Louis,  tak- 
ing the  cue  from  her,  began  gradually  to  persecute  the  Prot- 
estants. At  first,  innocently  enough,  rewards  were  offered 
to  voluntary  converts.  Then  the  government  proceeded  to 
take  more  drastic  measures;  wherever  Huguenots  refused,  on 
summons,  to  become  Catholics,  rough  dragoons  were  quar- 
tered on  them  until  the  wild  soldiery  had  produced  pliancy. 
These  barbarities  became  known  as  dragonnades.  Finally, 
in  1685,  two  years  after  Louis  had  by  formal  marriage  with 
Madame  de  Maintenon,  who  thus  became  his  second  wife, 
thoroughly  committed  himself  to  her  ideas,  he  revoked  the 
Edict  of  Nantes,  by  virtue  of  which  the  Huguenots  had  en- 
joyed a  partial  freedom  of  worship  for  almost  one  hundred 


Under  Louis  XIV, 


283 


years.  Therewith  the  Protestant  faith  was  proscribed  within 
the  boundaries  of  France.  The  blow  which  this  insane 
measure  struck  the  prosperity  of  the  country  was  more 
injurious  than  a  disastrous  war.  Thousands  of  Huguenots 
— the  lowest  estimate  speaks  of  fifty  thousand  families — fled 
across  the  border  and  carried  their  industry,  their  capital,^ 
and  their  civilization  to  the  rivals  and  enemies  of  France — 
chiefly  to  Holland,  America,  and  Prussia. 

The  occupation  of  Strasburg  and  the  Revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes  were  events  belonging  to  an  interval  of 
peace.  But  Louis  was  already  planning  a  new  war.  When 
his  preparations  became  known,  the  emperor,  the  Dutch, 
and  Spain  concluded,  at  the  instigation  of  William  of  Orange,  England  joins 
a  new  alliance.  Happily,  before  the  war  had  well  begun,  a  agl'ins^Louis. 
lucky  chance  won  England  for  the  allies.  In  1688  James 
n.,  who,  like  his  brother,  Charles  II.,  was  inclined  to  live  on 
friendly  terms  with  Louis,  was  overthrown  by  the  "Glorious 
Revolution,"  and  William  of  Orange  became  king  of  Eng- 
land. As  the  temper  of  the  English  people  had  at  the  same 
time  become  thoroughly  anti-French,  William  had  no  diffi- 
culty in  persuading  them  to  join  Europe  against  the  French 
monarch.  Thus  in  the  new  war — called  the  War  of  the  Pa- 
latinate, from  the  double  fact  that  Louis  claimed  the  Palat- 
inate and  that  the  war  began  with  a  terrible  harrying  by  fire 
and  sword  of  that  poor  Rhenish  land — Louis  was  absolutely 
without  a  friend. 

This   third   war   (1688-97)   is,  for  the  general   student,   TheWarof 
thoroughly  unmemorable.     Battles  were  fought  on  land  and   1088-97.       * 
on  sea,  in  the  Channel,  in  the  Netherlands,  and  along  the 
Rhine,  and,  generally  speaking,  the  French  proved  their  old 

'  The  industry  and  the  capital  of  the  Huguenots  are  not  mere  phrases. 
The  Huguenots,  who  belonged  largely  to  the  middle  classes,  were  the  hardest 
workers  of  the  time,  largely  through  the  direct  influence  of  Calvin.  Calvin 
interpreted  the  commandment,  "  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor,"  literally,  and 
abandoned  the  dozens  of  holidays  which  obliged  Cathohc  workmen  to  be 
idle  a  good  part  of  the  year. 


284 


The  Ascendancy  of  France 


The  Spanish 
inheritance. 


Louis  signs 
and  rejects 
the  Partition 
Treaty. 


superiority;  but  they  were  not  strong  enough  to  reap  any  ben- 
efit from  their  successes  against  the  rest  of  Europe,  and  in 
1697  all  the  combatants  from  mere  exhaustion  were  glad  to 
sign,  on  the  basis  of  mutual  restitutions,  the  Peace  of  Rys- 
wick. 

The  War  of  the  Palatinate  was  the  first  war  by  which 
Louis  had  gained  nothing.  That  and  the  circumstance  that 
England  had  now  definitely  joined  the  ranks  of  his  enemies, 
should  have  served  him  as  a  warning  that  the  tide  had 
turned.  And  perhaps  he  would  not  have  been  so  unmind- 
ful of  the  hostility  of  Europe  if  there  had  not  opened  for 
him  at  this  time  a  peculiarly  tempting  prospect.  The  king 
of  Spain,  Charles  II.,  had  no  direct  heir,  and  at  his  death, 
which  might  occur  at  any  time,  the  vast  Spanish  dominion 
— Spain  and  her  colonies,  Naples  and  Milan,  the  Spanish 
Netherlands — would  fall  no  one  knew  to  whom.  The  Aus- 
trian branch  of  Hapsburg  put  forth  a  claim,  but  Louis  fan- 
cied that  his  children  had  a  better  title  still  in  right  of  his 
first  wife,  who  was  the  oldest  sister  of  the  Spanish  king. 
The  matter  was  so  involved  legally  that  it  is  impossible  to 
say  to  this  day  where  the  better  right  lay. 

Louis  was  now  old  enough  to  have  grown  cautious,  and 
wisely  proposed  to  his  chief  adversary,  William  III.,  to  come 
to  some  arrangement  with  him  over  the  Spanish  inheritance 
by  which  war  might  be  averted.  Accordingly,  the  two  lead- 
ing powers  of  Europe  pledged  themselves  to  a  plan  of  par- 
tition as  the  most  plausible  settlement  of  the  impending 
difiiculties.  But  when,  on  the  death  of  Charles  II.,  Novem- 
ber, 1700,  it  was  found  that  the  Spanish  king  had  made  a 
will  in  favor  of  Philip,  the  duke  of  Anjou,  one  of  Louis's 
younger  grandsons,  Louis,  intoxicated  by  the  prospect,  for- 
got his  obligations  and  threw  the  Partition  Treaty  to  the 
winds.  He  sent  young  Philip  to  Madrid  to  assume  the 
rule  of  the  undivided  dominion  of  Spain.     The  House  of 


Under  Louis  XIV.  285 

Bourbon  now  ruled  the  whole  European  west.     "There  are 
no  longer  any  Pyrenees,"  were  Louis's  exultant  words. 

It  was  some  time  before  Europe  recovered  from  the  shock 
of  its  surprise  over  this  bold  step  and  nerved  itself  to  a  re- 
sistance. The  hoodwinked  and  angered  William  was  inde- 
fatigable in  arousing  the  Dutch  and  English,  and  at  last,  in 
1 701,  succeeded  in  creating  the  so-called  Grand  Alliance,  The  Grand 
composed  of  the  emperor,  England,  the  Dutch,  and  the  lead-  '^^'^'^'^^• 
ing  German  princes.  Before  the  war  had  fairly  begun,  how- 
ever, William,  the  stubborn,  life-long  enemy  of  Louis,  had 
died  (March,  1702).  In  the  war  which  was  just  then  break- 
ing out  and  is  called  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession 
(1702-14),  it  is  not  merely  fanciful  to  discover  his  spirit 
pervading  the  camps  and  marching  with  the  hosts  of  the 
allies. 

In  the  new  war  the  position  of  Louis  was  more  favorable  The  com- 
than  it  had  been  in  the  preceding  struggle.  He  commanded  paS^  """^ 
the  resources  not  only  of  France  but  also  of  Spain;  his  sol- 
diers carried  themselves  with  the  assurance  of  troops  who 
had  never  been  beaten;  and  his  armies  had  the  advan- 
tage of  being  under  his  single  direction.  The  allies,  on  the 
other  hand,  were  necessarily  divided  in  council  and  interest. 
What  advantages  they  had  lay  in  these  two  circumstances, 
which  in  the  end  proved  decisive:  they  possessed  greater  re- 
sources of  money  and  men,  and  they  developed  superior 
commanders.  The  brilliant  French  generals,  Conde  and 
Turenne,  were  now  dead,  and  their  successors,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Vauban,  the  inventor  of  the  modern  system  of 
fortification,  and  the  intrepid  Villars,  were  all,  like  Louis 
himself,  without  a  spark  of  fire  and  originality.  In  the  high- 
est commands,  where  France  was  weak,  England  and  Aus- 
tria on  the  other  hand  proved  themselves  particularlv  strong. 
They  developed  in  the  duke  of  Marlborough  and  in  Eugene, 
prince  of  Savoy,  two  eminent  commanders. 


286 


The  Asccjidancy  of  France 


The  War  of  the 
Spanish  Suc- 
cession is  a 
world  struggle. 


The  victories 
of  Eugene  and 
Marlborough. 


A  Tory  minis- 
try succeeds 
(he  Whigs. 


Not  even  the  Thirty  Ye^'-s'  War  assumed  such  propor- 
tions as  the  struggle  in  which  Europe  now  engaged.  It  was 
literally  universal,  and  raged,  at  one  and  the  same  time,  at 
all  the  exposed  points  of  the  French-Spanish  possessions, 
that  is,  in  the  Spanish  Netherlands,  along  the  upper  Rhine, 
in  Italy,  in  Spain  itself  (where  the  Hapsburg  claimant,  the 
Archduke  Charles,  strove  to  drive  out  the  Bourbon  king, 
Philip  v.),  on  the  sea,  and  in  the  colonies  of  North  America. 
The  details  of  this  gigantic  struggle  have  no  place  here.  We 
must  content  ourselves  with  noting  the  striking  military  ac- 
tions and  the  final  settlement. 

The  first  great  battle  of  the  war  occurred  in  1704  at  Blen- 
heim, on  the  upper  Danube.  The  battle  of  Blenheim  was 
the  result  of  a  bold  strategical  move  of  Marlborough,  straight 
across  western  Germany,  in  order  to  save  Vienna  from  a 
well-planned  attack  of  the  French.  Joining  with  Eugene 
and  bringing  the  French  to  bay,  IMarlborough  captured  or 
cut  to  pieces  the  forces  of  the  enemy.  At  Blenheim  the  long 
chain  of  French  victories  was  broken,  and  two  new  names 
were  added  to  the  roster  of  great  generals.  In  1706  Marl- 
borough won  a  splendid  victory  at  Ramillies,  in  the  Nether- 
lands, and  in  the  same  year  Eugene  defeated  the  French  at 
Turin  and  drove  them  out  of  Italy.  These  signal  suc- 
cesses were  followed  in  the  years  1708  and  1709  by  two 
great  victories  along  the  French  frontier  at  Oudenarde  and 
Malplaquet.  Oudenarde  and  ISIalplaquet  left  France  pros 
trate,  and  seemed  to  open  up  the  road  to  Paris. 

The  road  to  Paris,  however,  owing  to  a  number  of  uii 
expected  occurrences,  which  utterly  changed  the  face  ol 
European  politics,  was  never  taken.  In  17 10  the  hold  of 
the  Whig  ministr)'  in  England,  which  had  supported  IMarl- 
borough and  advocated  the  war,  was  shaken,  and  shortly 
after  a  Tory  ministry,  in  favor  of  peace  at  any  price,  suc- 
ceeded.    While   Marlborough's  actions  in  the  field  were 


Under  Louis  XIV.  287 


thus  paralysed,  there  fell  from  another  quarter  a  second 
and  a  finishing  blow. 

In  17 1 1  the  Emperor  Joseph  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  The  death  of 
his  brother,  Charles  VI.  As  Charles  was  also  the  candidate  /osTpii""^ 
of  the  Grand  Aiiiance  for  the  Spanish  throne,  the  death 
of  Joseph  held  out  the  prospect  of  the  reunion  of  the  vast 
Hapsburg  dominion  in  one  hand,  as  in  the  time  of  Charles 
V.  Such  a  development  did  not  lie  in  the  interests  of  Eng- 
land and  the  Dutch,  and  these  two  nations  now  began  to 
withdraw  from  the  Grand  Alliance  and  urge  a  settlement  with 
the  French.  Louis,  who  was  utterly  exhausted  and  broken 
by  defeat,  met  them  more  than  half  way.  In  17 13  the  Peace 
of  Utrecht  ended  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession. 

By  the  Peace  of  Utrecht  the  Spanish  dominions  were  The  Peace  of 

,.    .  ,     ,        ^  ,       ,  ,  1  •       .1        Utrecht,  1713 

divided.  Everybody  managed  to  get  some  share  in  the 
booty.  First,  Philip  V.,  Louis's  grandson,  was  recognized 
as  king  of  Spain  and  her  colonies,  on  condition  that  France 
and  Spain  would  remain  forever  separated.  In  a  limited 
sense,  therefore,  Louis's  policy  had  triumphed,  for  a  Bour- 
bon sat  upon  the  Spanish  throne.  Next,  the  emperor  was 
provided  for;  he  received  the  bulk  of  the  Italian  posses- 
sions (Milan,  Naples,  and  Sardinia),  together  with  the  Span- 
ish Netherlands  (henceforth  Austrian  Netherlands).  The 
Dutch  were  appeased  with  a  number  of  border  fortresses 
in  the  Austrian  Netherlands,  as  a  military  barrier  against 
France;  and  England  took  some  of  the  French  possessions 
in  the  New  World,  Newfoundland,  Nova  Scotia  (Acadia), 
and  Hudson's  Bay,  together  with  the  island  of  Minorca  and 
the  rock  of  Gibraltar,  which  gave  her  the  command  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea.  The  ambitious  and  dissatisfied  em- 
peror refused,  at  first,  to  accept  this  peace,  but  he  was  forced 
to  give  way  and  confirm  its  leading  arrangements  by  the 
Peace  of  Rastadt  (1714). 

Shortly  after  the  Treaties  of  Utrecht  and  Rastadt,  Louis  Louis's  death. 


288 


The  Ascendancy  of  France 


The  domi- 
nance of 
French  civili- 
zation. 


The  bloom  of 
French  litera- 
ture. 


XIV.  died  (September,  17 15).  The  material  prosperity  of 
his  early  years  had  vanished,  and  in  their  place  his  failing 
eyes  fell  upon  a  famished  peasantry  and  a  government 
breaking  down  under  its  burden  of  debt.  The  disastrous 
end  was  the  answer  of  fate  to  his  foolish  ambition.  "  I  have 
made  too  many  wars,"  the  dying  king  admitted;  "do  not  imi- 
tate me  in  that  respect,"  he  said,  turning  to  his  little  heir.  But 
to  his  contemporaries  he  remained  to  the  day  of  his  passing 
the  grand  monarquc;  and  that  title  is  a  good  summary  of  him 
as  he  appears  in  history,  for  it  conveys  the  impression  of  a 
splendor  which  is  not  without  the  suspicion  of  hoUowness. 

The  brilliancy  which  Louis's  long  reign  lent  France  cast 
a  spell  upon  the  rest  of  the  world.  Louis's  court  became 
the  model  court  of  Europe,  and  the  so-called  good  society, 
the  world  over,  adopted,  for  more  than  a  century,  the 
French  tongue,  French  manners,  French  fashions,  and 
French  art.  That  such  mere  imitation  could  bring  other 
nations  no  solid  cultural  advantages  goes  without  saying, 
but  it  is  necessary  to  recognize  that  French  civilization  un- 
der Louis  must  have  possessed  an  irresistible  charm  to 
have  excited  such  universal  admiration. 

Under  Louis  French  literature  unfolded  a  wealth  of 
blossoms.  It  is  the  period  of  French  classicism,  a  period, 
that  is,  of  self-restraint  and  voluntary  subjection  to  rules. 
Literature,  always  a  perfect  mirror  of  society,  naturally 
assumed  the  majestic  tone  which  ruled  at  Versailles,  and 
prided  itself  on  outward  glitter  and  formal  finish.  But 
beneath  this  more  or  less  artificial  note  sound,  in  the  case 
at  least  of  the  leaders,  the  sincerity  and  conviction  which  are 
the  constant  characteristics  of  true  art.  France,  modern 
France,  France  of  the  coming  centuries,  may  point  proudly 
to  her  tragic  poets,  Corneille  (d.  1684)  and  Racine  (d. 
1699),  and  may  always  turn  for  refreshment  and  entertain- 
ment to  the  comedies  of  her  inimitable  Moliere  (d.  1673). 


.tian. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE   RISE   OF   RUSSIA   AND   THE  DECLINE   OF   SWEDEN 

References:  Wakemax,  Ascendancy  of  France,  pp.  165-^ 
72,  180-83,  289-308;  Hassall,  The  Balance  of  Power, 
Chapters  V.,  XI.,  XIII. ;  Rambaud,  History  of  Russia, 
Vol.  II.,  Chapters  I.-IV.;  Morfill,  Russia;  Walis- 
ZEWSKi,  Peter  the  Great;  Nisbet  Bain,  Charles  XII. 

Source  Readings:  Robinson,  Readings,  Chapter  XXXIL, 
Sections  i,  2,  3. 

The  Russians,  the  leading  branch  of  the  Slav  family,  The  Russians: 
took  possession,  in  the  period  of  the  great  migrations,  of  the  chri^t^ 
wide  plains  of  eastern  Europe  where  they  still  reside.  In 
the  tenth  century  they  became  converted  to  Christianity 
by  Greek  missionaries,  with  the  result  that  they  have  ever 
since  been  passionately  attached  to  the  Greek  Orthodox 
Church,  which  held  in  the  east  the  same  commanding  po- 
sition occupied  by  the  Roman  Church  in  the  west.  They 
had  not  advanced  far  upon  the  road  of  civilization  when  a 
great  calamity  overtook  them,  for  in  the  thirteenth  century 
they  were  conquered  by  Asiatic  Mongols  or  Tartars,  whose 
yoke  they  did  not  entirely  cast  off  until  the  beginning  of  the 
Modern  Period.  Under  Ivan  III.  (i 462-1 505)  and  Ivan  • 
IV.  (1547-84)  the  power  of  the  monarch  was  greatly  in- 
creased until  he  became  almost  absolute,  and  assumed,  in 
witness  of  his  position,  the  proud  title  of  Caesar  or  Czan 
On  the  death  of  Ivan  IV.,  called  the  Terrible,  Russia  was 
plunged  into  a  sea  of  domestic  troubles,  out  of  which  she 
was  rescued  in  161 3  by  the  election  to  the  sovereignty  of 

28g 


290 


TJic  Rise  of  Russia 


Poles  and 
Swedes,  the 
natural 
enemies  of 
Russia. 


Czar  Peter. 


The  situation 
a  Russia. 


a  native  nobleman,  Michael  Romanoff.  Michael  was  the 
first  Czar  of  the  dynasty  which  still  rules  Russia  to-day. 

The  first  business  of  the  House  of  Romanoff  was  to  drive 
back  the  western  neighbors,  the  Poles,  who  had  taken  ad- 
vantage of  the  late  civil  troubles  to  appropriate  Russian 
territory.  The  Czars  had  engaged  in  this  task  with  some 
success  when  they  found  themselves  confronted  with  another 
and  far  more  formidable  power,  Sweden.  Sweden  being  at 
that  time  the  great  Baltic  state,  a  struggle  was  inevitable  as 
soon  as  Russia  resolved  to  get  a  foothold  on  what  Sweden 
regarded  as  her  sea.     And  that  brings  us  to  Peter. 

Czar  Peter  is  the  glory  of  the  House  of  Romanoff.  To- 
gether with  an  older  brother,  Ivan,  he  succeeded  to  the  throne 
in  the  year  1682.  However,  as  the  brothers  were  still  too 
young  to  rule,  a  regency  was  established  under  an  older  sister, 
Sophia.  Peter,  a  masterful  lad,  accepted  the  situation  until 
1689,  when,  being  seventeen  years  old,  he  took  the  gov- 
ernment into  his  own  hands  and  sent  Sophia  to  a  nunnery. 
As  Czar  Ivan  was  a  weak  and  brainless  creature,  his  ex- 
istence for  the  few  more  years  that  he  lived  was  no  check 
upon  Peter's  autocratic  control. 

In  order  to  understand  Peter's  activity  it  is  necessary  to 
grasp  the  chief  factors  of  the  Russian  situation  at  the  time 
of  his  accession.  In  the  second  half  of  the  seventeenth 
century  the  Russians  were  in  life  and  manners  an  Asiatic 
people,  connected  with  European  culture  solely  by  the  two 
bonds  of  their  Arj^an  blood  and  their  Christian  faith.  Polit- 
ically their  association  with  Europe  was  very  slight.  Their 
state  was  of  vast  extent,  comprising  the  plain  of  the  Volga  and 
including  a  large  part  of  northern  Asia  or  Siberia,  but  was  so 
cooped  in  on  the  west  and  south  by  a  ring  of  great  powers — 
Persia,  Turkey,  Poland,  and  Sweden— that  it  was  practically 
an  inland  monarchy  without  a  gate  upon  any  sea  which 
might  throw  open  to  it  the  highways  of  the  world.     Finally, 


And  the  Decline  of  Siveden  291 


let  us  understand  the  Russian  constitution.  The  Czar  was 
on  the  way  toward  absolutism,  but  there  still  existed  some 
checks  upon  his  power —  (i)  the  patriarch,  the  head  of  the 
Church,  who  exercised  great  influence  in  religious  matters, 
and  (2)  the  Streltsi,  the  Czar's  body-guard,  who,  because  they 
leaned  upon  the  nobility  and  were  a  privileged  force,  felt 
inclined  to  regard  themselves  as  superior  to  their  master. 

This  situation  Peter  soon  seized  with  a  statesmanlike  Peter'j  polic:/ 
grasp,  and  moulded,  through  the  efforts  of  a  long  rule,  to  his 
own  purposes.  He  set  himself,  in  the  main,  three  aims,  and 
met  in  all  a  degree  of  success  which  is  fairly  astonishing: 
he  resolved  to  make  the  culture  connection  between  Russia 
and  Europe  strong  and  intimate  by  opening  the  door  to 
European  civihzation;  he  labored  to  open  a  way  to  the  west 
by  gaining  a  foothold  on  the  Black  and  Baltic  Seas;  and 
lastly,  he  planned  to  rid  himself  of  the  restraint  put  upon  his 
authority  by  the  patriarch  and  the  Streltsi. 

Peter  is  a  difficult  person  for  a  modern  man  to  understand.  Peter's  char- 
On  one  occasion  he  (appears  as  a  murderer,  on  another  as  a 
monster  of  sensuality,  and  on  still  another  as  one  of  nature's 
noblemen.  We  have  the  key  to  his  character  when  we  re- 
member that  he  was  a  barbarian  of  genius — never  anything 
more.  Civilized  standards  applied  to  him  are  unjust  and 
futile.  Barbarity  was  an  element  of  his  blood,  and  all  his 
strenuous,  life-long  aspirations  for  the  nobler  possessions  of 
the  mind  never  diminished  his  natural  savagery.  Therefore, 
his  life  is  full  of  the  strangest  contrasts.  With  barbarian 
eagerness  he  appropriated  everything  that  he  encountered, 
good  and  evil  alike,  and  surrendered  himself,  for  the  time 
being,  to  its  sway  with  all  his  might.  Certainly  his  dis- 
tinguishing characteristic  is  an  indomitable  energy;  his  life 
burned  at  a  white  heat. 

Peter's  first  chance  to  distinguish  himself  came  in  the   Peter's  first 

con  Oil tf^^ 

year  1695.     The  Emperor  Leopold  was  at  that  time  waging  Azov.  "^" 


292 


TJie  Rise  of  Russia 


Peter's  jour- 
ney of  in- 
struction. 


Peter  dis- 
bands the 
Streltsi  and  or- 
ganizes a 
standing 
army. 


war  against  the  Turks,  who  were  beginning  to  show  the 
first  symptoms  of  collapse.  Seeing  his  opportunity,  Peter 
resolved  to  make  use  of  their  embarrassment  to  acquire  a 
southern  outlet  for  Russia,  and  in  1696  conquered  the  Port 
of  Azov,  on  the  Black  Sea.  The  future  now  opened  more 
confidently  to  him,  and  before  taking  another  step  he 
determined  to  visit  the  west  and  study  the  wonders  of  its 
civilization  with  his  own  eyes. 

Peter  spent  the  year  1697-98  in  travel  through  Germany, 
Holland,  and  England.  The  journey,  undertaken  with  a 
large  suite  of  fellow-students  like  himself,  was  meant  purely 
as  a  voyage  of  instruction.  Throughout  its  course  Peter 
was  indefatigable  in  his  efforts  to  get  at  the  bottom  of 
things,  at  the  methods  of  western  government,  at  the 
sources  of  western  wealth,  at  the  systems  of  western  trade 
and  manufacture.  "My  part  is  to  learn,"  is  the  motto 
encircling  the  seal  which  he  had  struck  for  this  voyage.  In 
Holland  he  hired  himself  out  for  a  time  as  a  common  ship- 
carpenter,  ships  having  been  a  passion  with  him  from  his 
boyhood.  In  addition  he  attended  surgical  lectures,  visited 
paper-mills,  flour-mills,  printing-presses,  in  short  was  un- 
tiring in  his  efforts  to  assimilate  not  a  part  but  the  whole 
of  western  civilization.  In  England  King  William  received 
him  with  especial  cordiality  and  assisted  him  in  every  way 
in  the  prosecution  of  his  studies.  The  rough  Peter  was  the 
joke  of  the  day  among  the  courtiers  and  dandies,  but  honest 
folk  were  spurred  to  interest  by  this  enthusiastic  worker, 
who  balked  at  no  drudgery  to  fit  himself  for  the  task  of  up- 
lifting his  backward  people. 

The  opportunity  for  putting  the  results  of  his  trip  to 
the  test  of  practice  came  sooner  than  Peter  expected.  At 
Vienna  he  heard  that  the  Streltsi  had  revolted.  He  set  out 
post-haste  for  home,  established  order,  and  then  took  a  fear- 
ful vengeance.     Over  a  thousand  of  the  luckless  guards  were 


And  the  Decline  of  Sweden  293 


executed  with  terrible  tortures.  Rumor  reports  that  Peter 
in  his  savage  fury  himself  played  the  headsman.  Sovereign 
and  executioner — such  accumulation  of  offices  in  one  hand 
clearly  exhibits  the  chasm  that  then  yawned  between  Europe 
and  Russia.  But  no  one  will  deny  that  there  was  method  in 
Peter's  madness.  The  Streltsi,  who  were  affiliated  with  the  * 
nobility,  had  been  a  constant  centre  of  disaffection,  and  now 
was  the  time,  as  Peter  clearly  saw,  to  get  rid  of  them.  Such 
as  were  not  executed  were  dismissed,  and  the  troop  was 
replaced  by  a  regular  army,  organized  on  the  European 
pattern  and  dependent  on  the  Czar. 

Peter's  reforms  now  crowded  thick  and  fast.     Every  bar-   Peter's re- 

.    -         forms. 

rier  was  levelled  to  facilitate  the  mvasion  of  western  mtiu- 
ences.  He  invited  colonists,  mechanics,  and  shipwrights  to 
settle  in  Russia.  He  introduced  western  dress.  He  dis- 
couraged the  wearing  of  beards,  although  they  enjoyed  the 
sanction  of  the  Church,  and,  armed  with  a  pair  of  scissors, 
occasionally  with  his  own  imperial  hand  practised  the  bar- 
ber's art  upon  his  subjects.  But  by  such  measures  he 
clashed  with  the  most  cherished  superstitions  of  his  people, 
and  the  clergy,  the  natural  centre  of  conservatism,  became 
increasingly  suspicious  of  his  policy.  As  their  discontent 
was  a  danger  to  the  throne  and  a  hindrance  to  reforms,  the 
Czar  resolved  to  make  them  more  dependent  on  himself. 
When  the  patriarch  died  in  1700,  Peter  committed  his  func- 
tions to  a  synod  which  he  himself  appointed  and  controlled, 
and  thus  the  Czar  became  the  head  of  the  Church  as  he 
already  was  the  head  of  the  state. 

After  his  return  from  the  west,  Peter  was  more  desirous  The  inevitable 

111  1       x^    1  •  A  xu       clash  with 

than  ever  of  gannng  a  hold  on  the  Baltic.     Azov,  on  the  Sweden. 
Black  Sea,  was  worth  little  to  him  as  long  as  the  Turks  held 
the  Dardanelles.     The  west,  it  was  clear,  could  be  best 
gained  by  the  northern  route.     But  the  enterprise  was  far 
from  easy.    The  Baltic  coast  was  largely  held  by  Sweden, 


294 


The  Rise  of  Russia 


The  greatness 
of  Sweden. 


Charles  XII. 


and  Sweden,  the  leading  power  of  the  north,  was  prepared 
to  resist  with  energy  any  attempt  to  displace  her. 

The  rise  of  Sweden  to  the  position  of  the  leading  Baltic 
power  dates  from  the  heroic  time  of  Gustavus  Adolphus 
(1611-32).  Gustavus  extended  his  rule  over  the  northern 
and  eastern  shores  of  the  Baltic,  and  through  his  successful 
interference  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  his  daughter  Chris- 
tina, who  succeeded  him,  acquired,  as  her  share  in  the  Ger- 
man booty,  western  Pomerania  and  the  land  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Weser  and  the  Elbe  (Treaty  of  Westphalia,  1648).  For 
a  short  time  now  Sweden  took  rank  with  the  great  powers 
of  Europe.  Unfortunately  for  her,  her  greatness  was  the 
result  not  of  her  wealth  and  civilization,  but  of  her  military 
prowess;  and,  as  experience  proves,  a  militar}^  greatness 
rests  on  precarious  foundations.  A  weak,  unmilitary  ruler, 
or  a  military  adventurer  who  overstrains  the  bow,  may  un- 
dermine it.  Generally  speaking  the  successors  of  Gusta- 
vus were  capable  sovereigns,  but  they  injured  and  antag- 
onized so  many  interests  that  it  was  only  a  question  of  time 
when  their  neighbors  would  combine  against  them.  Den- 
mark to  the  west,  Brandenburg-Prussia  to  the  south,  Poland 
and  Russia  to  the  east,  had  all  paid  for  Sweden's  great- 
ness with  severe  losses,  and  nursed  a  corresponding  grudge 
against  her.  The  long-awaited  opportunity  for  revenge 
seemed  at  length  to  have  arrived,  when  in  the  year  1697; 
Charles  XII.,  a  boy  of  fifteen,  came  to  the  throne.  His 
youth  and  inexperience  appeared  to  mark  him  as  an  easy 
victim,  and  Denmark,  Poland,  and  Russia  formed  a  league 
against  him  to  recover  their  lost  territories  (1700). 

The  allies  had,  however,  made  their  reckoning  without 
the  host.  Charles  XII.  turned  out,  in  spite  of  his  youth,  to 
be  the  most  warlike  member  of  a  warlike  race — a  perfect 
fighting  demon.  But  aside  from  his  unflinching  courage  hft 
lacked  almost  ever\'  virtue  of  a  ruler.     Of  a  proud  and  ob- 


^        '^GERMAN   EMPIRE 
""  Sweden  1524 


AcqiiUltioiis  of  Eric  XIV.(ISBO-CS) 

AciinUltilMia  of  Ull^ll<vll»  AilnlpllllK- 
(16ll-32)aud  Clui^liiin  (1032-54) 
_j  Acqul-lliuiis  of  Cllalles  X. (1654-60) 


1)  Follow  the  expansion  of  Sweden  from  her  independence 
(1524).  Eric  XIV.  acquired  Estlionia  (IJCl).  Gustavus 
AUolphus  and  his  daugliter  Christina  acquired  Carelia. 
Ingermanlaud,  Livonia,  Western  Pomerania,  the 
bishoprics  Bremen  and  Verden,  Gotland  (island)  and 
Jemtland.  Charles  X.  acquired  the  southern  tip  of  the 
peninsula  (Ifi.-iS).  2)  Then  trace  the  losses  helonjrinK  to 
tlie  time  of  Charles  XII.  The  year  of  acquisition  is  piven 
in  bold  type  while  the  year  of  loss  follows  in  brackets. 
The  treaty  of  Nystad  (1721)  makes  Russia  a  Baltic  power. 


Ilk 


Longitude   16° 


And  the  Decline  of  Sweden  295 

stinate  nature  he  was  never  governed  by  a  consideration  of 
the  welfare  of  his  people,  but  always  shaped  his  policy  by 
his  own  romantic  notions  of  honor.  He  was  Don  Quixote 
promoted  to  a  throne,  and  though  he  could  figat  with  ad- 
mirable fury  against  windmills,  he  could  not  govern  and  he 
could  not  build.  In  the  year  1700  his  full  character  was  not 
yet  revealed,  and  people  stopped  open-mouthed  with  wonder, 
as  he  went  up  in  splendor,  like  a  rocket,  in  the  north. 

Before  the  coalition  was  ready  to  strike,  young  Charles  His  marvel- 
gathered  his  forces  and  fell  upon  the  enemy.  As  the  armies  q^I^q^^^^ 
of  Denmark,  Poland,  and  Russia  were  necessarily  widely 
separated,  he  calculated  that  if  he  could  meet  them  in  turn, 
the  likelihood  of  victory  would  be  much  increased.  He  laid 
his  plans  accordingly.  In  the  spring  of  1700  he  suddenly 
crossed  the  straits  from  Sweden  and  besieged  Copenhagen. 
The  king  of  Denmark,  unprepared  for  so  bold  a  step, 
had  to  give  way  and  sign  with  Charles  the  Peace  of  Tra- 
vendal  (August,  1700),  in  M'hich  he  promised  to  remain 
neutral  during  the  remainder  of  the  war.  The  ink  of  his 
signature  was  hardly  dry  before  Charles  was  off  again 
like  a  flash.  This  time  he  sailed  to  the  Gulf  of  Finland, 
where  Peter  with  50,000  men  was  besieging  Narva.  Charles 
at  the  head  of  only  8,000,  advanced  straightway  to  the  attack, 
and  his  well-disciplined  Swedes  soon  swept  the  confused 
masses  of  the  ill-trained  Russians  off  the  field.  On  Peter's 
falling  back  into  the  interior,  Charles  was  free  to  turn  upon 
his  last  and  most  hated  enemy,  August  the  Strong,  king  of 
Poland,  and  before  another  year  passed  August,  too,  had 
been  defeated. 

Thus  far  the  war  had  been  managed  admirably.     Charles   He  spoils  all 
might  have  made  his  conditions  and  gone  home.     But  pas-   policy.  ° ''' 
sionately  obstinate,  he  was  set  on  humiliating  August,  whom 
he  regarded  as  the  instigator  of  the  alliance,  and  whom  he 
determined   to   drive  out  of  Poland  altogether.     The  at- 


296 


The  Rise  of  Russia 


The  anarchy 
in  Poland. 


Charles  and 
August. 


Progress  of 
Peter  on 
the  Baltic. 


tempt  necessitated  getting  Poland  into  his  hands,  and  proved 
so  difficult  that  it  led  to  the  undoing  of  his  first  successes 
and,  finally,  to  the  ruin  of  his  life. 

Poland  was  at  this  time  in  a  condition  hardly  better  than 
anarchy.  The  nobles  had  all  the  power  and  were  sovereign 
on  their  own  lands.  The  only  remaining  witnesses  of  a 
previous  unity  were  a  Diet,  which  never  transacted  any 
business,  and  an  elected  king,  who  was  allowed  no  power 
and  had  nothing  to  do.  In  the  year  1697  the  Poles  had  even 
elected  to  the  kingship  a  foreigner,  August  the  Strong,  elector 
of  Saxony.  Now  when  in  the  year  1701  King  August  was 
defeated  by  Charles,  the  majority  of  the  Poles  were  glad 
rather  than  sorry,  for  August  had  engaged  in  the  war  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  Diet;  but  when  Charles  began  making 
conquests  in  Poland,  and  insisted  on  forcing  a  monarch  of 
his  own  choosing  on  the  Poles,  a  national  party  naturally 
gathered  around  August,  who,  although  a  foreigner,  was 
nevertheless  the  rightful  king. 

For  many  years  following  the  brilliant  campaign  of  1700 
Charles  hunted  August  over  the  marshy  and  wooded  plains 
of  the  Slav  kingdom,  but  though  always  victorious,  he  could 
never  quite  succeed  in  utterly  crushing  his  enemy.  Even 
the  capture  of  Warsaw  and  the  elevation  of  his  dependent, 
Stanislaus  Lesczinski,  to  the  Polish  throne,  did  not  change 
the  situation.  Finally,  in  1706,  Charles  desperately  plunged 
after  August  into  Saxony,  and  forced  him  formally  to  abdi- 
cate the  Polish  crown. 

The  vindictiveness  of  her  sovereign  was  destined  to  cost 
Sweden  dear.  While  Charles  was  squandering  his  strength 
upon  a  foolish  enterprise,  his  neighbor,  Peter,  was  making 
excellent  use  of  his  time.  The  lesson  of  Narva  had  not  been 
lost  upon  him.  He  built  up  a  disciplined  army  and  gradu- 
ally occupied  a  considerable  part  of  the  Baltic  coast.  To 
show  his  confidence  in  the  future,  he  founded  in  1703,  on 


And  the  Decline  of  Stveden  297 


the  banks  of  the  Neva,  a  new  capital  and  named  it  St.  Pe- 
tersburg. Only  in  1707,  when  he  had  wrung  his  peace  from 
August,  did  the  king  of  Sweden  undertake  to  put  a  check  on 
these  Russian  aggressions.  To  let  Peter  feel  the  whole 
weight  of  his  sword,  he  marched  against  Moscow,  but  long 
before  he  reached  that  distant  capital  his  ranks  were  thinned 
by  the  rigors  of  the  Russian  winter  and  decimated  by  disease. 
When  Peter  came  up  with  Charles  at  Pultava  (1709),  the  Theverdictoi 
Swedes  fought  with  their  accustomed  bravery,  but  their 
sufferings  had  worn  them  out.  And  now  Narva  was  avenged. 
The  Swedish  army  was  literally  destroyed,  and  Charles, 
accompanied  by  a  few  hundred  horsemen,  barely  succeeded 
in  making  his  escape  to  Turkey.  The  verdict  of  Pultava 
was  destined  to  be  final.  Sweden  stepped  down  from  her 
proud  position,  and  a  new  power,  Russia,  henceforth  ruled 
in  the  north. 

As  for  Charles,  the  Sultan  received  the  famous  warrior  Charles  in 
hospitably  and  offered  him  Bender  for  a  residence.  There 
Charles  remained  five  years — long  enough  to  make  Bender 
the  name  of  one  of  the  maddest  chapters  of  his  adventurous 
career.  He  immediately  set  his  chief  aim  upon  dragging 
Turkey  into  a  war  with  Peter,  but  not  till  1711  did  the 
Sultan  yield  to  the  importunate  pleader.  A  lucky  campaign 
was  about  to  deliver  Peter  into  Charles's  hands,  when  the 
Grand  Vizier,  who  led  the  Turkish  forces,  accepted  a  bribe, 
and  opening  a  lane  let  Peter's  forces  slip  out  of  the  trap 
into  which  they  had  blindly  plunged.  His  unfortunate  ex- 
perience merely  cost  Peter  Azov  on  the  Black  Sea.  The 
disappointed  Charles  raved  like  a  madman  on  seeing  his  foe 
escape,  and  when  the  Sultan,  tired  of  the  impertinence  of  the 
eternal  meddler,  requested  him  a  little  later  to  leave  his 
territory,  Charles  obstinately  refused  to  budge.  It  took  a 
regular  siege  to  bring  him  to  understand  that  his  entertain- 
ment in  Turkey  was  over,  and  even  then  he  fought  like  a 


298  Tlie  Rise  of  Russia 

maniac  upon  the  roof  of  his  burning  house  until  he  fell 

senseless  amid  the  debris.     At  length,  after  an  absence  of 

five  years,  he  turned  his  face  homeward  (17 14). 

Sweden  sur-  Charles  returned  too  late  to  stem  the  ebb  of  Swedish 

c^  her  BalHc       power,  for  the  surrounding  states  had  taken  advantage  of  the 

territory.  king's  long  absence  to  help  themselves  to  whatever  territories 

they  coveted.     He  met  his  foes  with  his  accustomed  valor, 

but  his  country  was  exhausted  and  his  people  alienated.     In 

1 7 18,  during  his  siege  of  Frederikshald  in  Norway,  he  was 

shot  while  riding  out  to  reconnoitre  the  position  of  the 

enemy.     His  sister,  Ulrica  Eleanor,  who  succeeded  him,  was 

compelled  by  the  aristocratic  party  to  agree  to  a  serious 

limitation  of  the  royal  prerogative.     Then  the  tired  Swedes 

hastened  to  sign  a  peace  with  their  enemies.     The  German 

states  of  Hanover  and  Prussia  acquired  payments  out  of 

the  Swedish  provinces  in  Germany,  Hanover  getting  Bremen 

and  Verden,  Prussia  part  of  Pomerania;  August  the  Strong 

was   recognized  as  king   of  Poland;  but   Peter,  who  had 

contributed  most  to  the  defeat  of  Charles,  got,  too,  by  the 

Treaty  of  Nystadt   (1721),  the  lion's  share  of  the  booty. 

He  had  handed  over  to  him  Carelia,  Ingria,  Esthonia,  and 

Livonia — in  fact,  all  the  Swedish  possessions  of  the  eastern 

Baltic  except  Finland. 

Peter  and  the  Peter  was  now  nearing  the  end  of  his  reign.     His  rule  had 

p  "s'tlon."^'        brought  Russia  a  new  splendor,  but  he  was  not  spared  pain 

and  chagrin.     For  one  thing  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  Russian 

civilization  were  resisted  by  the  Russians  themselves,  and  a 

secret  party  of  hide-bound  conservatives  looked  fervently 

forward  to  the  time  of  the  accession  of  Peter's  ::cn  and 

heir,  Alexis.     Alexis,  for  his  part,  shunned  no  trouble  to 

exhibit  his  sympathy  with  the  cause  of  reaction.     With  a 

heavy  heart  Peter  had  to  face  the  possibility  of  a  successor 

who  would  undo  his  cherished  life-work.    For  years  he  took 

[)ains  to  win  Alexis  over  to  his  views,  but  when  his  efforts 


'{/i(/  the  Dciline  of  Sweden  299 


proved  without  avail,  he  resolved,  for  the  sake  of  the  state, 
to  deprive  his  son  of  the  crown.  The  resolution  we  may 
praise,  the  method  was  terrible.  It  exhibited  once  more  all 
of  Peter's  latent  savagery.  The  Czarowitz  died  under  the 
knout  (17 18),  and  the  accounts  which  have  come  down  to  us 
make  it  probable  that  Peter  had  more  than  a  passive  share 
in  his  torture  and  execution. 

When  Peter  died  (1725),  it  seemed  for  a  time  as  if  Russia  Catherine  11. 
would  return  to  her  former  Asiatic  condition.  The  govern- 
ment fell  into  the  hands  of  a  succession  of  dissolute,  in- 
competent Czarinas,  wlio  let  their  favorites  plunder  the 
treasury  and  made  Russia  a  byword  in  Europe,  until  the 
accession  in  1762  of  Catherine  II.  Catherine,  by  birth  a 
petty  princess  of  Germany,  came  to  Russia  as  the  wife  of 
the  heir-apparent,  Peter.  She  was  not  only  intelligent  and 
energetic,  but  also  wholly  unscrupulous,  and  shortly  after 
Peter,  who  was  crotchety  and  half  insane,  had  ascended  the 
throne  (1762),  she  led  a  revolution  against  him,  in  the  course 
of  which  he  was  dethroned  and  murdered.  Although  she 
thus  acquired  the  supreme  power  by  means  of  a  crime,  once 
in  possession  of  it  she  wielded  it  with  consummate  skill. 
Being  of  western  birth,  she  naturally  favored  western  civiliza- 
tion. Peter  the  Great  himself  had  not  been  more  anxious 
to  give  Russia  a  European  varnish.  More  important  still, 
she  took  up  Peter's  idea  of  expansion  toward  the  west. 

Since  the  overthrow  of  Sweden,  the  chief  resistance  to  the   Catherine 
advance  of  Russia  toward  the  Black  and  Baltic  Seas  had   ten*tion  on 
centred  in  Poland  and  Turkey.     Their  geographical    po-   Poiandand 
sition  made  them  Russia's  rivals  and  enemies,  and  Cath- 
erine saw  her  life-work  in  their  abasement  or  subjection. 
Before  she  died  she  had  succeeded  in  destroying  Poland 
and  in  bringing  Turkey  to  her  feet. 

The  paralvsis  of  Poland  had  been  brought  home  to  everv  Explanation  of 

'^         ■  "  "     the  anarchy 

observer  in  Europe,  when  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden  succeeded  of  Poland. 


300  The  Rise  of  Russia 


in  holding  the  country  for  a  number  of  years  with  a  mere 
handful  of  troops  (1702-07).  The  weakness  of  the  state 
was  due  to  the  selfish  nobles  and  the  miserable  government 
which  they  had  imposed  on  the  country.  To  realize  its 
ludicrous  unfitness,  one  need  only  recall  the  famous  pro- 
vision called  libenim  veto,  which  conferred  on  every  member 
of  the  Diet  the  right  to  forbid  by  his  single  veto  the  adop- 
tion of  a  legislative  measure.  By  liherum  veto  one  man 
could  absolutely  stop  the  machinery  of  government.  Under 
these  circumstances  Poland  was  agitated  by  local  quarrels 
in  which  ambitious  neighbors  presently  took  a  hand.  As  it  is 
a  universal  law  that  the  weak  are  preyed  upon  by  the  strong, 
Poland  has  herself  to  thank  in  the  first  place  for  the  ruin  that 
overtook  her  in  the  eighteenth  century.  But  that  fact,  of 
course,  does  not  exempt  from  guilt  the  powers  that  threw 
themselves  upon  her  like  beasts  of  prey  and  rent  her  asunder. 
The  three  The   three   neighbors  of  Poland,   Russia,   Austria,   and 

^olaS"^  °^  Prussia,  had  long  held  her  in  their  power  before  they  re- 
solved to  put  an  end  to  her  existence  by  means  of  a  partition. 
After  extended  negotiations  the  measure  was  finally  arranged 
in  the  year  1772.  The  partition  of  that  year — called  the 
First  Partition — did  not  destroy  Poland;  it  simply  peeled 
off  slices  for  the  lucky  highwaymen.  The  land  beyond  the 
Dwina  went  to  Russia,  Galicia  to  Austria,  and  the  province 
of  West  Prussia  to  Prussia.  But  partition  once  admitted  in 
principle,  the  march  of  events  could  not  be  stopped,  and  a 
few  years  later  the  fate  of  Poland  was  sealed  by  a  Second 
and  a  Third  Partition  (1793  and  1795).  Poland  ceased  to 
exist  as  a  state  when  her  last  army,  gallantly  led  by  Kos- 
ciusko, went  down  before  the  Russians,  but  as  a  people 
she  exists  to  this  day,  and  fervidly  nurses  in  her  heart  the 
hope  of  resurrection. 
The  movement       The  signal  success  achieved  by  Catherine  in  Poland  ex- 

toward  Con-  .,,  .  i-r  '•  ^       rr^     ^  ^ 

stantiDople.        Cited  her  to  mcreased  efforts  agamst  the   lurks.     In  two 


And  the  Decline  of  Sweden  301 


wars  (first  war,  1768-74;  second  war,  1787-92)  she  suc- 
ceeded in  utterly  defeating  the  great  Mohammedan  power, 
and  in  extending  her  territory  along  the  Black.  Sea  to  the 
Dniester.  It  was  a  solid  acquisition,  but  it  did  not  satisfy 
the  ambitious  Czarina.  She  dreamed  of  getting  Constanti- 
nople and  left  that  dream  as  a  heritage  to  her  successors, 
who  have  cherished  it  in  their  hearts  and  have  striven  per- 
sistently since  her  death  to  set  up  their  standards  on  the 
Bosporus. 

Catherine  left  Russia  at  her  death  (1796)   the  greatest   Peter  and 
power  of  the  north,  perhaps  even  of  Europe.     Her  life,   founders  of 
like  that  of  Peter,  is  stained  with  gross    immorality,   but   Jc^ss!'''"  ^'^''^^' 
these  two  have  the  honor  of  having  lifted  Russia  almost 
without  aid,  and  often  in  spite  of  herself,  to  her  present 
eminent  position. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


THE   RISE   or   PRUSSIA 


References:  Wakeman,  Ascendanc}^  of  France,  pp.  172- 
83,  289-96,  308-10;  Hassall,  Balance  of  Power,  Chap- 
ters VI.,  Vli.,  VIII.,  IX.,  XI.  (pp.  298-320);  Longman, 
Frederick  the  Great;  Henderson,  History  of  Germany, 
Vol.  II.,  Chapters  I.-V.;  Tuttle,  History  of  Prussia 
(first  volume  uncritical;  last  three  volumes,  dealing  with 
Frederick  the  Great,  very  creditable);  Carlyle,  Fred- 
erick the  Great  (a  monumental  work,  very  partial  to  its 
hero);  Bright,  Maria  Theresa;  Bright,  Joseph  11. 

Source  Readings:  Robinson,  Readings,  Chapter  XXXII. , 
Sections  4-8;  Wilhelmine,  Margravine  of  Baireuth, 
Memoirs  (this  princess,  sister  of  Frederick  the  Great, 
is  a  most  entertaining  gossip). 


Early  history 
of  the  mark  of 
Brandenburg. 


The  modern  kingdom  of  Prussia  has  developed  from 
very  inconsiderable  beginnings  which  take  us  back  many 
hundred  years.  Its  cradle  is  the  so-called  mark  or  march  of 
Brandenburg,  founded  in  the  tenth  century,  in  those  remote 
feudal  times  when  Germany  was  practically  confined  be- 
tween the  Rhine  and  the  Elbe,  and  was  constantly  threatened 
on  its  eastern  border  by  the  incursions  of  the  Slavs.  The 
mark  was  intended  to  be  a  militar}'  outpost  against  these 
people,  who,  besides  being  of  a  different  race,  filled  the  lately 
Christianized  Germans  with  added  horror  because  they 
were  still  heathen.  The  margrave,  as  the  head  of  the  mark 
was  called,  was  soon  not  content  to  stand  upon  the  defen- 
sive, but  carried  the  war  into  the  territory  of  the  enemy, 
crowded  back  the  Slavs  foot  by  foot-  and  took  possession 

302 


The  Rise  of  Prussia  303 


of  their  lands  as  far  as  the  Oder.  The  mark  thus  came  to 
embrace  a  considerable  territory,  lying  for^the  most  part 
between  the  Elbe  on  the  west  and  the  Oder  on  the  east,  and 
its  ruler,  the  margrave,  waxed  so  great  that  in  the  four- 
teenth century  he  was  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading 
princes  of  Germany,  receiving  the  title  of  elector.  Mean- 
while, the  first  race  of  margraves,  to  whom  Brandenburg 
owed  its  extension,  died  out,  rival  claimants  appeared,  and 
for  some  time  such  confusion  reigned  that  the  mark  threat- 
ened to  relapse  into  barbarism.  Out  of  this  anarchy  it 
was  saved  by  the  fortunate  accession  of  the  House  of  Hohen- 
zoUern,  which  has  guided  the  destiny  of  Brandenburg  to 
this  day. 

The  Hohenzollerns  proved  themselves  in  general  a  family  Origin  of  the 
of  strong  common-sense  and  steady  endurance,  with  the  Hohenzollern. 
result  that  they  have  raised  themselves  from  rung  to  rung 
of  the  ladder  of  dignities,  until  in  our  day  the  head  of  the 
House  has  become  German  emperor.  Before  the  year  1415, 
when  Frederick  of  Hohenzollern  was  put  in  possession 
of  the  mark  of  Brandenburg  by  Emperor  Sigismund,  the 
family  had  not  filled  a  large  role  in  history.  It  originated 
in  the  south  of  Germany,  not  far  from  the  borders  of  Switz- 
erland, and  gradually  acquired  considerable  possessions 
around  Nuremberg,  but  its  real  history  begins  only  with 
its  transfer  to  the  north. 

Frederick  took  up  his  task  in  Brandenburg  with  energy  The  early 
and  intelligence,  secured  his  borders,  overawed  his  knights,  margraves!'^" 
and  established  peace  upon  the  highways.  When  he  died 
in  1440  the  mark  lay  quietly  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand.  One 
hundred  years  later  Joachim  II.,  the  contemporary  of  Luther, 
ranged  himself  on  the  side  of  the  Reformation  without,  how- 
ever, aniving  at  anything  like  such  a  role  in  the  religious 
history  -^f  the  period  as  his  neighbor,  the  elector  of  Saxony. 
It  was    in  fact,  not  until  the  seventeenth  century  that  the 


304 


The  Rise  of  Prussia 


Two  impor- 
tant acquisi- 
tions. 


History  of 
Prussia. 


East  Prussia 
and  West 
Prussia. 


margrave  of  Brandenburg  began  to  outstrip  all  the  other 
princes  of  the  Empire,  for  under  the  Elector  John  Sigis- 
mund  (1608-19)  the  family  fell  heir  to  two  lucky  legacies, 
which  secured  for  it  considerable  territories  in  the  extreme 
east  and  in  the  extreme  west  of  Germany.  In  1609,  by  the 
death  of  the  last  duke  of  Cleves  and  Juliers,  John  Sigis- 
mund  acquired  some  lands  on  the  lower  Rhine,  and  in  1618 
he  succeeded  to  the  duchy  of  Prussia  on  the  Baltic. 

What  is  meant  by  Prussia,  and  exactly  what  land  was  it 
that  the  margrave  of  Brandenburg  acquired  under  that  name 
in  16 18  ?  To  answer  this  question  we  are  obliged  to  pause  for 
a  moment  and  look  backward.     The  name  Prussia  was  ap- 
plied in  the  Middle  Ages  to  the  land  which  lay  along  the  east- 
ern shore  of  the  Baltic,  and  was  the  home  of  a  heathen  and 
Slav  tribe  called  Prussians.     In  the  thirteenth  century  the 
Teutonic    Knights,    one   of   those    military    orders    which 
abounded  in  the  age  of  chivalry,  undertook  to  serve  the 
cause  of  Christ  by  conquering  the  land  and  converting  the 
inhabitants  to  Christianity.     The  enterprise  was  successful. 
Either  the  Prussians  accepted  the  cross  or  were  butchered 
and  replaced  by  German  colonists;  and  the  Grand  Master 
of  the  Knights,  as  their  chief  was  called,  became  a  great 
potentate  and  ruled  over  a  large  territory.     But  his  glory  did 
not  last  long.     The  land  of  the  order  bordered  upon  Poland, 
frequent  wars  took  place  with  that  great  kingdom,  and  at 
last  the  Knights  were  defeated  and  had  to  accept  an  igno- 
minious peace  (Treaty  of  Thorn,  1466).    The  king  of  Poland 
divided  their  territory  into  two  parts,  East  Prussia  and  West 
Prussia;  while  keeping  West  Prussia  absolutely  for  himself, 
he  gave  back  East  Prussia  to  the  Knights  as  a  fief  of  the 
Polish  crown.     Thus  West  Prussia  disappeared  for  the  pres- 
ent in  the  kingdom  of  Poland,  but  East  Prussia  continued 
to  have  a  separate  and  interesting  history.     In  the  sixteenth 
century,  at  the  time  of  Luther,  the  Grand  Master  Albert,  a 


The  Rise  of  Prussia  305 


scion  of  the  House  of  Hohenzollern,  became  a  Protestant, 
broke  up  the  order,  and  converted  East  Prussia  into  a  duchy 
with  himself  as  hereditary  duke.  His  family  continued  to 
rule  till  16 18,  when  it  became  extinct,  and  the  duchy  fell, 
as  we  have  seen,  to  the  Hohenzollerns  of  Brandenburg.  It 
was  an  important  acquisition,  but  it  came  to  the  margrave 
on  the  old  terms;  that  is,  he  held  it  as  a  fief  of  the  Polish 
crown. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  Thirty  Years'  War  broke  out   Mean  role  of 

,  .        T    TT   1  11  •  •       Brandenburg 

in  Germany.  The  combuied  Hohenzollern  possessions  m  during  the 
Cleves  along  the  lower  Rhine,  in  Brandenburg,  and  in  East  ^^'^^^J  ^  ^^^^' 
Prussia,  should  have  made  the  elector  of  that  period,  George 
William  (1619-40),  an  important  factor  in  the  struggle;  but 
as  he  was  an  exception  to  the  Hohenzollern  rule,  and  had 
neither  honor,  courage,  nor  intelligence,  he  vacillated  be- 
tween Protestants  and  Catholics,  and  lived  to  see  his  lands 
invaded,  harried,  and  ruined  by  both.  It  was  left  to  his  son, 
Frederick  William  (1640-88),  known  as  the  Great  Elector, 
to  redeem  his  country  and  carry  the  name  of  Brandenburg 
for  the  first  time  into  European  politics. 

When  Frederick  William  succeeded  to  the  throne  (1640),  Frederick 
the  Thirty  Years'  War  had  reduced  his  lands  to  the  last  de-  Great  Elector. 
gree  of  misery.  He  straightway  adopted  a  vigorous  policy, 
expelled  all  foreign  soldiery  from  his  states,  and  in  general 
displayed  such  energy  that,  when  the  Peace  of  Westphalia 
(1648)  was  signed,  he  received  a  number  of  valuable  addi- 
tions of  territory — namely,  the  four  secularized  bishoprics 
of  Halberstadt,  Minden,  Gamin,  and  Magdeburg,  and  the 
eastern  half  of  Pomerania  on  the  Baltic.  Brandenburg  had 
a  valid  claim  to  all  of  Pomerania,  but  the  claim  could  not  be 
realized,  as  a  great  power,  Sweden,  took  the  western  and 
better  half  for  herself. 

Frederick  William  found  himself  on  his  accession  at  the  Absolute 
head  of  three  separate  groups  of  territories,  Brandenburg  ^°'^^^^^^ 


3o6  TJic  Rise  of  Prussia 


at  the  centre,  with  Cleves  and  Prussia  to  the  west  and  east. 
Each  of  these  territories  constituted  a  distinct  state  with  its 
own  Diet,  which  not  only  voted  but  also  collected  the  taxes; 
in  other  words,  each  province  was  ruled  by  the  ?'ector  in 
strict  cooperation  with  a  representative  body.  Living  in  an 
age  of  absolutism,  Frederick  William  soon  resolved  to  make 
himself  master,  undermined  and  practically  dissolved  the 
Diets,  and  put  himself  in  complete  control  of  the  revenues 
of  his  territories.  Then  he  proceeded  to  form  an  army  en- 
tirely dependent  on  himself,  raised  it  by  tireless  efforts  to 
25,000  men,  and  became  before  his  death  a  respected  fac- 
tor in  the  councils  of  Europe.  Absolutism  and  the  standing 
army  are  his  chief  contributions  to  the  organization  of  the 
state. 
Civilizing  But  the  Great  Elector  was  no  common  tyrant  who  broke 

Great  Elector,  down  opposition  to  his  wiU  in  order  to  dispose  at  pleasure 
of  the  resources  of  his  subjects.  He  considered  himself  the 
father  of  his  country,  called  to  reign  in  order  to  advance  it 
along  all  lines  of  human  endeavor.  He  encouraged  indus- 
try and  agriculture,  built  roads  and  canals  to  facilitate  com- 
merce, drained  marshes,  and  called  colonists  from  near  and 
far  in  order  to  bring  again  under  the  plough  the  lands  which 
the  Thirty  Years'  War  had  turned  into  a  wilderness.  His 
most  notable  achievement  in  this  respect  is  associated  with 
the  name  of  the  Huguenots.  Wlien,  by  reason  of  Louis 
XIV.'s  folly  and  bigotry,  the  Edict  of  Nantes  was  revoked 
(1685)  and  the  Huguenots  began  to  seek  homes  elsewhere 
the  Great  Elector  sent  them  a  pressing  invitation  to  come 
to  him.  Some  twenty  thousand  joyfully  responded,  and 
were  settled  mainly  around  Berlin.  With  characteristic 
industry  they  turned  the  sand  wastes  around  the  north- 
ern capital  into  kitchen  gardens,  and  by  their  iri^.ellig'ence 
communicated  a  powerful  mental  stimulus  to  ah  northero 
Germany. 


The  Rise  of  Prussia  '^oy 


With  increased  resources  and  an  efficient  army  at  his  dis-   His  hostility  to 

,.,     ,  ,  ..       Sweden. 

pusal,  Frederick  WiUiam  was  not  hkely  to  let  any  opportunity 
slip  to  increase  his  territory.  As  matters  stood  after  the 
Peaca  of  Westphalia,  his  chief  rival  was  Sweden,  ensconced 
in  western  Pomerania,  only  a  few  hours'  march  from  Berlin. 
This  alone  would  have  sufficed  to  make  Sweden  an  object 
of  hatred  and  suspicion,  even  if  there  had  not  been  the  ad- 
ditional reason  that  Frederick  William  considered  western 
Pomerania  to  be  by  right  his  own.  Luckily  for  him  Sweden 
had  other  enemies,  more  formidable  than  himself — Denmark, 
Russia,  Poland,  in  fact  the  whole  ring  of  the  Baltic  powers. 
The  paramount  position  which  Sweden  had  won  was  dis- 
tasteful to  them  and  they  were  ever  ready  to  seize  any  op- 
portunity for  lowering  her  pride.  In  1655  war  broke  out  be- 
tween Sweden  and  Poland,  during  which  Frederick  William, 
whose  territories  lay  between  the  hostile  states,  was  alternate- 
ly coaxed  and  bullied  by  both.  But  he  steered  his  course 
between  the  combatants  with  such  unscrupulous  dexterity 
that  he  came  out  of  the  war  with  profit  and  prestige,  having 
forced  the  king  of  Poland  to  surrender  the  suzerainty  of 
East  Prussia.  Henceforth  the  elector  held  that  territory  in 
full  sovereignty. 

A  few  years  later  he  introduced  his  new  army  to  the  War  with 
world  and  scored  an  astonishing  triumph.  The  occasion  -g/  ^"' ' 
was  furnished  by  Louis  XIV.,  who  in  1672  fell  upon  Hol- 
land, resolved  to  crush  that  stout  little  republic.  Frederick 
William  together  with  the  emperor  rose  in  its  defence,  an 
interference  that  so  enraged  Louis  that  he  persuaded  the 
Swedes,  who  were  bound  to  him  by  treaty,  to  invade  Branden- 
burg. This  unexpected  move  obliged  the  elector,  who  was 
operating  on  the  Rhine,  to  hurry  home.  Approaching  by 
forced  marches  and  with  great  stealth,  he  fell  in  June, 
1675,  upon  the  enemy  at  Fehrbellin  and  beat  him  signally. 
Fehrbellm  brilliantly  opens  the  military  annals  of  Branden- 


3o8  TJie  Rise  of  Prussia 


burg,  and  what  followed  showed  that  the  victory  was  not 
merely  a  lucky  stroke,  for  the  elector  pursued  the  Swedes 
into  Pomerania  and  conquered  the  province.  But  to  his 
deep  chagrin  he  got  no  good  from  his  victory,  for  when 
Louis  XIV.  closed  by  the  Treaty  of  Nimwegen  (1678)  the 
Dutch  war,  he  stood  faithfully  by  his  ally,  Sweden,  and 
compelled  the  Great  Elector  to  disgorge  his  Swedish  con- 
quests. 
The  Silesian  After  this  disappointment  he  tried  to  advance  his  interests 

dispute.  .^  ^^^  province  of  Silesia,  where  the  House  of  HohenzoUern 

had  ancient  claims  to  certain  districts,  to  wit,  to  the  four 
duchies  of  Liegnitz,  Brieg,  Wohlau,  and  Jagerndorf.  The 
province  of  Silesia  belonged  to  the  House  of  Hapsburg,  and 
the  emperor,  who  was  the  head  of  this  House,  refused  to  admit 
the  validity  of  the  HohenzoUern  claims.  As  Hapsburg  was 
more  than  HohenzoUern,  and  the  emperor  counted  for  more 
than  the  elector,  the  claimant  got  no  satisfaction  until  the 
time  came  when  the  emperor,  weary  of  the  unfruitful  dis- 
pute, declared  his  willingness  to  compromise.  In  1686  he 
induced  Frederick  William  to  surrender,  in  return  for  the 
district  of  Schwiebus  in  Silesia,  all  his  presumptive  rights 
in  that  province.  But  the  emperor,  who  was  Leopold  I., 
played  a  double  game.  While  he  was  openly  negotiating 
this  arrangement  with  the  elector,  he  was  secretly  persuading 
the  elector's  son,  who  was  not  on  good  terms  with  his  father, 
to  promise  to  give  back  Schwiebus  on  his  accession.  Two 
years  later  Frederick  William  died  (1688),  and  his  son 
Frederick,  who  succeeded  him,  had  to  live  up  to  the  bargain, 
but  could  and  did  maintain  with  much  show  of  reason  that 
the  return  of  the  purchase  money  revived  his  unsettled  claims. 
This  Silesian  incident  is  of  importance  because  it  turned 
up  again  some  fifty  years  later,  when  the  punishment  for 
the  trickery  of  the  Emperor  Leopold  was  visited  a  hundred- 
fold upon  an  innocent  successor. 


The  Rise  of  Prussia  3^9 


The  Elector  Frederick  (1688-1713)  was  a  very  different   Theelectorof 

,  J    1    r  A     Brandenburg 

man  from  his  solid,  practical  father.  VV  eak  and  detormea  becomes  king 
from  birth  and  incapable  of  mental  application,  he  showed  '"  Prussia, 
throughout  his  life  that  he  cared  much  more  for  the  pleas- 
ures of  the  court  than  for  the  duties  of  his  office.  Never- 
theless, his  reign  is  made  memorable  by  the  fact  that  he 
won  for  the  elector  of  Brandenburg  the  new  title  of  king  in 
Prussia.  As  Frederick  was  a  vassal  of  the  Empire,  the  title 
could  be  assumed  only  with  the  consent  of  the  emperor, 
who  granted  it  after  long  delay  and  with  much  reluctance, 
as  payment  for  a  loan  of  troops  in  the  impending  War  of 
the  Spanish  Succession.  On  January  18,  1701,  the  cere- 
mony of  coronation  took  place  at  Konigsberg,  the  capital  of 
East  Prussia,  and  henceforth  the  Elector  Frederick  III.  of 
Brandenburg  was  known  by  his  higher  title  of  King  Fred- 
erick I.  in  Prussia.!  The  title  king  in  Prussia  was  adopted 
in  preference  to  that  of  king  of  Brandenburg,  because  as  king 
of  Brandenburg  he  would  still  be  a  vassal,  whereas  drawing 
his  royal  title  from  Prussia,  which  was  not  part  of  the  Em- 
pire and  was  subject  to  no  one,  his  crown  would  have  an 
added  lustre.  The  name  Prussia  was  henceforth  used  as 
a  common  designation  for  all  the  HohenzoUern  states,  and 
gradually  drove  from  common  usage  the  older  designa- 
tion, Brandenburg. 

Frederick's  successor,  King  Frederick  William  I.  (17 13-  King  Frederick 
40),  is  a  curious  reversion  to  an  older  type.     He  was  the  ^^^])l^^l)^^^. 
Great  Elector  over  again,  with  all  his  practical  good  sense  ganizer  and  ad- 

'^        '  .        .        niinistrator, 

and  love  of  administrative  detail,  but  without  his  genius  for 
dii)lomatic  business  or  his  political  ambition.  He  gave  his 
life  to  the  organization  of  the  state  along  the  lines  laid  down 

'  The  first  form  of  the  title  was  as  here,  king  in  Prussia,  in  order  to  fore- 
stall anv  criticism  from  Poland,  which,  having  incorporated  West  Prussia, 
might  have  protested  against  the  title  king  0/  Prussia,  as  implying  the  sov- 
ereignty over  all  Prussia.  Nevertheless,  the  simpler  form,  king  of  Prus- 
sia, came  before  long  into  general  use. 


310  The  Rise  of  Prussia 


by  his  famous  ancestor,  carrying  to  an  efficiency  unrivalled 
in  his  day  the  army  and  the  administration.  By  close  thrift 
he  managed  to  raise  his  standing  army  to  some  80,000  men, 
which  put  little  Prussia  in  military  matters  in  a  class  with  the 
great  states  of  Europe.  And  what  troops  they  were!  An 
iron  discipline  moulded  them  into  the  most  precise  military 
engine  then  to  be  found  in  Europe,  and  a  corps  of  officers 
which  did  not  buy  its  commissions,  as  everywhere  else  at 
that  time,  but  was  appointed  strictly  on  merit,  applied  to  it 
a  trained  and  devoted  service.  In  his  civil  administration 
also  he  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  Great  Elector.  The 
grandfather  had  established  the  unity  of  the  state  by  break- 
ing down  the  local  authorities,  but  it  was  left  to  the  grand- 
son to  create  a  body  of  professional  civil  servants  who  ad- 
ministered the  state  directly  under  the  king.  The  highly 
centralized  administration  of  the  Prussia  of  to-day,  which 
with  all  its  obvious  defects,  such  as  excessive  "red  tape," 
is  still  a  model  in  its  way,  may  be  set  down  to  the  credit  of 
King  Frederick  William  I. 
He  acquires  For  these  two  creations  of  an  army  and  a  civil  service 

Sif  SweS'''*  Frederick  William  holds  a  high  place  as  a  domestic  king. 
Pomerania.  jj^  foreign  affairs  he  did  not  do  so  well,  being  unsuited  for 
the  delicate  transactions  of  diplomacy  by  his  rough,  blus- 
tering temper.  However,  the  good  fortune  which  had  en- 
abled almost  every  one  of  his  ancestors  to  accumulate  some 
new  territory,  continued  to  attend  him,  since  he  added  a  part 
of  Swedish  Pomerania  to  the  Prussian  crown.  The  oppor- 
tunity was  furnished  by  the  downfall  of  Charles  XII.  at 
Pultava  (1709).  While  he  was  stubbornly  and  stupidly  Hn- 
gering  in  Turkey,  his  Baltic  neighbors  appropriated  his  ter- 
ritories, and  Frederick  William,  in  order  not  to  be  left  out 
in  the  cold,  sent  an  army  of  occupation  into  Pomerania.  Of 
course  on  his  return  the  Swedish  lion  stood  at  bay  against 
his  aggressors;  but  when  he  died  in  17 18  the  government 


TJie  Rise  of  Prussia  3 1 1 

hastened  to  come  to  terms  with  the  victors  and  ceded  to 
Prussia  the  mouth  of  the  Oder  with  the  port  of  Stettin. 
The  new  territory  was  small,  but  its  position  made  it  inval- 
uable to  the  commercial  development  of  the  Prussian  state. 

This  sturdy   king,   who   has  left  such  solid   memorials  H-s  eccen 

t  T"l  C\  \\  f*^ 

behind  him,  made  himself,  through  some  of  the  strangest 
eccentricities  which  have  ever  characterized  a  human  being, 
the  laughing-stock  of  Europe.  His  conception  of  his  office 
was  a  curious  compound  of  Biblical  patriarch  and  modern 
drill-sergeant.  He  had  his  eye  upon  everybody  and  every- 
thing. If  he  suspected  a  man  of  being  wealthy,  he  would 
compel  him  to  build  a  fine  residence  to  improve  the  looks  of 
the  capital.  He  had  a  particular  abhorrence  of  idleness; 
the  very  apple-women,  while  waiting  in  their  booths  for  cus- 
tomers, were  ordered  to  do  some  useful  knitting,  and  the 
police  were  empowered  to  pick  up  any  random  lounger  they 
found  and  put  him  to  social  service  in  the  army.  But  per- 
haps his  wildest  eccentricity  was  his  craze  for  tall  soldiers. 
At  Potsdam,  his  residence  some  miles  from  Berlin,  he  estab- 
lished a  giant  guard,  for  which  he  gathered  recruits  from  all 
parts  of  the  world.  He  petted  and  coddled  his  giants  like  a 
sentimental  father,  and  was  so  completely  carried  away  by  his 
hobby  that  he,  who  was  thrifty  to  the  point  of  avarice,  of- 
fered enormous  prices  in  all  markets  for  tall  men,  and  did 
not  scruple  to  capture  them  by  force  when  they  refused  to 
enlist. 

This  unpolished  northern  bear  naturally  kept  his  elegant  His  conflict 
neighbors  in  convulsions  of  laughter  by  his  performances,  prince.^ '^'^"^" 
On  one  occasion,  however,  his  eccentricity  threatened  to 
end  not  in  laughter  but  in  tears.  The  king's  son  and  heir, 
Frederick,  known  afterward  as  the  Great,  was  a  self-willed, 
careless  fellow,  who  was  drawn  much  more  to  books  and 
music  than  to  soldiering,  and  grew  up  in  all  respects  the 
very  opposite  of  his  bluff,  practical  father.     Parent  and  son 


312  The  Rise  of  Prussia 


conceived  a  strong  antipathy  for  each  other;  and  when  the 
father  attempted  by  corporal  punishment  to  coerce  his  son, 
the  proud  prince  resolved  to  run  away.  In  the  year  173c 
he  tried,  with  the  aid  of  some  friends,  to  carry  out  his  de- 
sign, but  was  caught  in  the  act.  Frederick  William  almost 
lost  his  mind  from  rage.  He  threw  his  son  into  prison,  and 
spoke  wildly  for  a  time  of  executing  him  as  a  common  de- 
serter from  the  army.  When  the  prince  was  at  last  released 
he  was  put  through  such  a  training  in  the  civil  and  military 
administrations,  from  the  lowest  grades  upward,  as  perhaps 
no  other  royal  personage  has  ever  received.  The  stern  dis- 
cipline was  felt  as  a  heavy  burden  by  Frederick,  prince  and 
dilettante;  but  Frederick,  the  responsible  king,  was  enabled 
thereby  to  know  every  branch  of  his  vast  administration 
like  a  thumbed  book. 
Accession  of  In  the  year  1740  Frederick  II.,  who  had  now  reached  the 

Frederick  II.,  ^^^  ^j  twcnty-eight,  succeeded  to  the  throne.  As  he  had 
spent  the  last  years  of  his  father's  life  in  rural  retirement, 
gathering  about  himself  a  circle  of  intimates  with  whom  he 
devoted  his  leisure  to  the  pursuit  of  art  and  literature,  every- 
thing else  was  expected  of  him  rather  than  military  designs 
and  political  ambition.  But  an  unexpected  opportunity 
carried  him  straight  into  the  ranks  of  the  leaders. 
The  death  of  A  few  months  after  Frederick's  accession,  in  October, 
ChSvi  ^74°'  t^^  Emperor  Charles  VI.,  the  last  male  of  the  line  of 
Hapsburg,  died.  Long  before  his  death  he  had  sought  to 
forestall  all  trouble  by  regulating  the  succession  in  an  ordi- 
nance, called  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  in  which  he  named 
his  oldest  daughter,  Maria  Theresa,  the  sole  heir  of  his  un- 
divided dominions;  and  during  his  last  years  he  knocked  at 
the  doors  of  all  the  European  cabinets  to  get  them  to  in- 
dorse and  guarantee  his  act.  Such  guarantees  having  been 
received  from  all  the  leading  states,  sometimes  at  a  great 
sacrifice,  he  died  with  composed  conscience,  and  the  Arch- 


The  Rise  of  Prussia  313 


duchess  Maria  Theresa  prepared  immediately  to  assume  the 
rule  of  Austria,  Bohemia,  Hungary,  and  the  other  Haps- 
burg  lands.  It  was  at  this  point  that  Frederick  stepped  in. 
He  was  young,  ambitious,  capable,  with  a  full  treasury  and 
a  fine  army  and  before  him  in  the  momentary  confusion  at 
Vienna  lay  an  unexampled  opportunity  to  settle  the  old  con- 
flict over  the  Silesian  lands.  Having  reflected  upon  the  sit- 
uation for  some  days,  he  took  the  bull  by  the  horns  and  in 
December,  1740,  marched  his  army  into  the  disputed  prov- 
ince. His  act  was  the  signal  for  a  general  rising.  The 
German  states,  Bavaria  and  Saxony,  and  the  great  foreign 
powers,  France  and  Spain,  followed  his  example  and  on 
some  trumped-up  claim  to  the  heritage  of  Charles  VI.  pre- 
pared to  invade  the  Austrian  dominions.  To  poor  Maria 
Theresa's  indignant  remonstrances  they  turned  a  deaf  ear. 
Thus  hardly  was  the  last  male  Hapsburg  cold  in  his  grave, 
when  it  was  apparent  that  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  was  not 
worth  the  paper  it  was  written  on. 

It  might  have  gone  hard  with  Maria  Theresa  if  she  had   The  War  of 

°  1       •     1   •      T-         If     the  Austrian 

not  found  splendid  resources  of  heart  and  mmd  m  herselt,  succession 
and  if  she  had  not  gained  the  undivided  support  of  the  many  ^^e^"^- 
nationalities  under  her  sway.  Her  enemies  were  descend- 
ing upon  her  in  two  main  directions,  the  French  and  their 
German  allies  from  the  west,  by  way  of  the  Danube,  and 
Frederick  of  Prussia  from  the  north.  Unprepared  as  she 
was,  her  raw  levies  gave  way,  at  first,  at  every  point.  On 
April  10,  1 741,  at  MoUwitz,  Frederick  won  a  great  victory 
over  the  Austrians,  clinching  by  means  of  it  his  hold  upon 
Silesia.  In  the  same  year  the  French,  Saxons,  and  Bava- 
rians invaded  Bohemia.  So  complete,  for  the  time  being, 
was  the  dominion  of  the  anti-Austrian  alliance  that  when  in 
January,  1742,  the  imperial  election  took  place,  the  com- 
bined enemies  of  Austria  were  able  to  raise  their  candidate, 
the  Elector  Charles  of  Bavaria,  to  the  imperial  throne.     The 


314 


The  Rise  of  Prussia 


Maria  Theresa 
makes  over 
Silesia  to 
Frederick, 
1742. 


Maria 
Theresa's 
success  and 
Frederick's 
second  attack 
upon  her. 


elector  assumed  his  new  dignity  with  the  title  of  Emperor 
Charles  VII.  (1742-45),  and  for  the  first  time  in  three  hun- 
dred years  the  crown  of  the  Empire  rested  upon  another 
than  a  Hapsburg  head. 

But  at  this  point  Maria  Theresa's  fortunes  rose  again. 
Her  own  magnetic  enthusiasm  did  wonders  in  restoring  and 
organizing  her  scattered  forces.  Not  only  was  the  army  of 
the  coalition  driven  out  of  Bohemia,  but  Bavaria,  the  land  of 
the  enemy,  was  invaded  and  occupied.  The  Prussians,  who 
had  hkewise  entered  Bohemia  in  order  to  help  their  allies, 
were  hard  pressed,  but  saved  themselves  by  a  victory  at 
Czaslau  (May,  1742).  Thereupon  Maria  Theresa,  who 
saw  that  she  could  not  meet  so  many  enemies  at  one 
and  the  same  time,  declared  her  willingness  to  come  to 
terms  with  her  most  formidable  foe.  In  1742  she  signed 
with  Frederick  the  Peace  of  Breslau,  by  which  she  gave 
up  practically  the  whole  province  of  Silesia.  What  is 
known  in  Prussia  as  the  First  Silesian  War  had  come  to 
an  end. 

Maria  Theresa  now  prosecuted  the  war  against  her  other 
enemies  with  increased  vigor.  England  and  Holland,  old 
friends  of  Austria,  joined  her,  and  with  each  new  campaign 
the  scales  inclined  more  visibly  in  her  favor.  When  the  pup- 
pet emperor,  Charles  VII.,  had  lost  every  foot  of  land  he 
owned,  and  the  Austrian  armies  stood  triumphantly  upon 
the  Rhine,  Maria  Theresa  could  feel  with  elation  that  she 
was  rapidly  becoming  the  mistress  of  Germany.  Aware 
that  in  that  case  he  could  not  hold  his  new  conquest  a  year, 
Frederick  was  moved  to  strike  a  second  blow.  In  1744  he 
began  the  Second  Silesian  War,  in  which  his  calculations 
were  completely  successful.  He  first  relieved  the  French 
and  the  Bavarians  by  drawing  the  Austrians  upon  himself, 
and  then  he  defeated  the  enemy  signally  at  the  battle  ot 
Hohenfriedberg  (1745).     On  Christmas  day,   1745,  Maria 


NOTE  TO  THE  STUDENT: 

Russia  and  Prussia  shared  in  all  three  partitions:  Austria  in  two.  After 
many  chauii^es  in  tlie  era  of  Napoleon,  tlic  Congress  of  Vienna  (1815) 
adi>|itfd  a  rearrauireinent  which  has  lasted  until  our  time.  By  its  terms 
Austria  ami  Prussia  kept  little  more  than  tlieir  acquisitions  ()f  1772, 
giving  up  tile  rest  to  liussia.  'J'lnis  Russia  is  by  far  the  le-adinCJ 
beneficiary  from  tlie  overtlirow  of  Poland. 


The  Rise  of  Prussia  315 


Theresa  bought  her  second  peace  of  Frederick  by  a  renewed 
cession  of  Silesia  (Peace  of  Dresden). 

For  a  few  more  years  the  general  war  continued.     After   Close  of  the 

„,.,,.  .  1  ^       i  •      T.    1         \\'arofthe 

Frederick's  retirement  it  was  waged  to  some  extent  m  Italy,  Austrian  Sue- 
but  chiefly  in  the  Austrian  Netherlands,  where  Maurice  de  "^^ssion. 
Saxe,  a  German  prince  in  the  employ  of  Louis  XV.,  saved 
the  military  reputation  of  France  by  winning  a  number  of 
brilliant  victories  over  Maria  Theresa  and  her  English  and 
Dutch  allies.  Finally,  in  1748,  everybody  being  tired  of 
fighting,  the  contestants  signed  the  Peace  of  Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle  (Aachen),  by  which  Maria  Theresa  was  universally 
recognized  as  the  sovereign  of  the  Hapsburg  dominions. 
Already,  as  early  as  1745,  her  husband,  Francis  of  Lorraine, 
had  been  elected  emperor  in  place  of  Charles  VII.,  who  had 
just  died  in  a  misery  deservedly  visited  upon  him  by  his  de- 
sire to  play  a  role  beyond  his  powers.  Thus  the  affairs  of 
Germany  were  gradually  brought  back  into  the  accustomed 
rut.  The  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession  had  come  to  an  end, 
and  against  everybody's  prediction  the  empress's  splendid 
qualities  had  maintained  her  dominions  intact,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  certain  slight  cessions  in  Italy  and  the  one  sub- 
stantial sacrifice  of  Silesia. 

When  Frederick  retired  from  the  Second  Silesian  War,  Prussia  a 
the  position  of  Prussia  had  been  revolutionized.  The  king  ^^^  powec. 
had  received  from  his  father  a  promising  state,  but  it  was  of 
no  great  size  and  it  enjoyed  no  authority  in  Europe.  Fred- 
erick, by  adding  Silesia  to  it,  gave  it  for  the  first  time  a  suf- 
ficient extent  and  population  to  enforce  a  certain  respect; 
but  that  acquisition  alone  would  not  have  raised  Prussia  to 
the  level  of  Austria,  France,  England,  or  Russia.  It  was 
the  genius  displayed  by  the  young  king  at  the  head  of  Prus- 
sia which  fell  so  heavily  into  the  balance  that  Prussia  was 
henceforth  counted  among  the  great  powers  of  Europe. 

Frederick,  having  thus  won  his  military  laurels,  settled 


3i6 


JJie  Rise  of  Prussia 


Frederick's 
internal  labors. 


The  personal- 
ity of  Fred- 
erick. 


down  to  the  much  harder  work  of  governing  his  country 
with  wisdom  by  increasing  its  resources  and  by  raising  its 
standards  of  civihzation.  The  ten  years  of  peace  which  fol- 
lowed the  Second  SilesianWar  are  crowded  with  vigorous 
domestic  labors.  He  continued  the  thrifty  policy  of  his  an- 
cestors of  reclaiming  waste  lands  and  settling  homeseekers 
upon  them,  his  greatest  achievement  of  this  kind  being  the 
drainage  of  the  swamps  along  the  Oder,  where  he  was  ena- 
bled to  found  several  villages  with  a  total  of  twelve  hundred 
families.  He  promoted  the  internal  traffic  by  new  canals, 
and  fostered  home  industries,  especially  the  manufacture  of 
woollen  and  linen  goods.  Finally,  he  carried  through  a  re- 
form of  the  procedure  of  the  courts  by  which  everybody 
from  high  to  low  was  assured  a  swift  and  impartial  justice. 
All  of  Frederick's  heavy  political  duties  never  destroyed 
in  him  the  artistic  instinct,  which  had  come  to  him  as  a 
gift  of  nature.  He  engaged  in  literature  with  as  much 
fervor  as  if  it  were  his  life-work,  and  took  constant  delight 
in  composing  music  and  in  playing  the  flute.  What  pleased 
him  most,  however,  was  a  circle  of  congenial  friends.  He 
was  especially  well  inclined  to  Frenchmen,  because  that  na- 
tion represented,  to  his  mind,  the  highest  culture  of  the  Eu- 
rope of  his  day.  A  larger  or  smaller  circle  of  polished  neigh- 
bors from  beyond  the  Rhine  was  about  him  all  his  life  to 
philosophize,  to  comment,  and  to  laugh,  and  for  a  number 
of  years  (1750-53)  he  even  entertained  at  his  court  the  leader 
of  contemporary  thought  and  the  quintessence  of  Gallic  wit, 
Voltaire.  But  after  a  period  of  sentimental  attachment  the 
king  and  the  philosopher  quarrelled,  and  Voltaire  vanished 
from  Berlin  in  a  cloud  of  scandal.  In  any  case,  the  momen- 
tary conjunction  of  the  two  most  characteristic  figures  of 
the  eighteenth  century — the  one  its  greatest  master  in  the 
field  of  action,  the  other  the  herald  of  a  renovated  Europe 
— has  an  historical  interest. 


The  Rise  of  Prussia  317 


All  this  while  Frederick  was  aware  that  Maria  Theresa  Maria  Theresa 

,  .      ,  .        ,         .     ,  .    1  •   •       1  1-1        ii  plans  to  get 

was  not  his  friend.     A  high-spirited  woman  hke  the  em-   back  Silesia, 
press  was  not  likely  to  forget  the  violence  of  which  she  had 
been  the  victim.     She  hoped  to  get  back  Silesia,  and  for 
years  carefully  laid  her  plans.     As  early  as  1746  she  en- 
tered upon  a  close  alliance  with  Russia,  which  the  two  con- 
tracting parties  understood  to  be  aimed  at  Frederick.     Next, 
her  minister  Kaunitz,  a  most  skilful  player  of  the  diplomatic 
game,  planned  the  bold  step  of  an  alHance  with  France.     In 
the  eighteenth  century  an  alliance  between  Hapsburg  and 
Bourbon,  the  century-old  enemies,  was  generally  held  to  be 
out  of  the  question.     The  rule  in  Austria  had  been  to  meet 
the  aggression  of  France  by  an  alliance  with  England,  and 
any  other  arrangement  seemed  to  be  contrary  to  the  law  of 
nature  itself.     But  since  the  Silesian  wars  Austria  had  come 
to  regard  not  France  but  Prussia  as  her  leading  enemy,  and 
Maria  Theresa  and  Kaunitz  were  very  anxious  to  have  France 
understand  that  thenceforth  they  had  no  further  quarrel  with 
her.    Their  plans  were  greatly  aided  by  the  following  circum- 
stance: England  and  France  were  making  ready,  about  tlie 
middle  of  the  century,  to  contest  the  empire  of  the  sea.^    Both 
were  looking  for  continental  allies;  and  as  Prussia,  after  hold- 
ing back  a  long  time,  was  induced  at  last  to  sign  a  convention 
with  England,  France,  in  order  not  to  be  isolated,  accepted 
the  proffered  hand  of  Prussia's  rival,  Austria.     In  the  spring  The  diplomatic 
of  1756  this  diplomatic  revolution  was  an  accomplished  fact,    j!,^^^"  '°"° 
The  two  great  political  questions  of  the  day,  the  rivaky  be- 
tween England  and  France,  involving  the  supremacy  of  the 
seas,  and  between  Prussia  and  Austria,  touching  the  control 
of  Germany,  were  about  to  be  fought  out  in  the  great  Seven 
Years'  War  (1756-63),  and  the  two  northern  and  Protestant 
powers,  England  and   Prussia,  were  to  consolidate   their 
claims  and  interests  against  the  claims  and  interests  of  the 

'  For  France  and  England  see  the  ne.xt  chapter  (Chapter  XV.). 


3i8 


The  Rise  of  Prussia 


War  between 
England  and 
France. 
Position  of 
Prussia. 


The  marvel- 
lous campaign 
of  1757- 


Catholic  powers,  France  and  Austria.  The  remaining  great 
power  of  Europe,  Russia,  instead  of  remaining  neutral  in  a 
dispute  which  did  not  concern  her,  sided  with  the  cabinets 
of  Versailles  and  Vienna. 

The  war  between  France  and  England  was  formally  de- 
clared in  May,  1756,  and  the  struggle  between  these  two 
powers  immediately  began  in  America,  India,  and  on  all  the 
seas.  For  a  moment  the  hope  was  entertained  of  keeping 
the  conflict  out  of  the  Continent  of  Europe,  but  only  for  a 
moment.  Then  the  long-threatening  storm  burst;  and  as 
England,  for  the  present  at  least,  was  engaged  with  all  her 
forces  elsewhere,  the  concentrated  fury  of  the  tempest  de- 
scended upon  her  ally,  Prussia.  Coolly  reviewing  the  situa- 
tion of  1756,  one  may  fairly  say  that  the  Austrian  diplo- 
macy was  justified  in  the  belief  that  the  hated  rival  of 
Austria  was  as  good  as  annihilated.  The  union  with  France 
and  Russia  was  the  basis  of  the  confidence  of  Maria  The- 
resa, but  there  were  also  negotiated,  or  about  to  be  nego- 
tiated, a  series  of  treaties  with  such  secondary  powers  as 
Saxony,  Sweden,  and  the  Empire.  The  plan  of  the  Austrian 
cabinet  was  that  the  Austrians  should  march  upon  Frederick 
from  the  south,  the  French  from  the  west,  the  Russians 
from  the  east,  the  Swedes  from  the  north,  and  so  shut  in 
and  choke  to  death  the  new  power  of  which  they  were  all 
jealous. 

Frederick's  one  chance  in  this  tremendous  crisis  was  tc 
move  quickly.  Before  the  allies  had  perfected  their  plans 
against  him,  he  therefore,  by  a  lightning  stroke,  occupied 
Saxony,  and  invaded  Bohemia  (autumn,  1756).  The  next 
year  his  enemies  marched  upon  him  from  all  points  of  the 
compass.  Again  he  planned  to  meet  them  separately  before 
they  had  united.  He  hurried  into  Bohemia,  and  was  on  the 
point  of  taking  the  capital,  Prague,  when  the  defeat  of  a 
part  of  his  army  at  Kolin  (June  i8th)  forced  him  to  retreat 


The  Rise  of  Prussia  319 


to  Saxony.  Slowly  the  /jastrians  followed  and  poured  into 
the  coveted  Silesia.  The  Russians  had  already  arrived  in 
East  Prussia,  the  Swedes  were  in  Pomerania,  and  the  French, 
together  with  the  German  troops  furnished  by  the  many 
small  states  of  the  Empire,  were  marching  upon  Berlin. 
Even  the  friends  and  family  of  Frederick  were  ready  to  de- 
clare that  all  was  lost,  while  his  enemies  exulted  openly. 
He  alone  kept  up  heart,  and  by  his  courage,  swiftness,  and 
intelligence  freed  himself  from  all  immediate  danger  by  a 
succession  of  surprising  victories.  At  Rossbach,  in  Thu- 
ringia,  he  fell  (November  5,  1757),  with  22,000  men,  upon 
the  combined  French  and  Germans  of  twice  that  number, 
and  scattered  them  to  the  winds.  Then  he  turned  like  a 
flash  from  the  west  to  the  east.  During  his  absence  in 
Thuringia  the  Austrians  had  completed  the  conquest  of 
Silesia,  and  were  already  proclaiming  to  the  world  that 
they  had  come  again  into  their  own.  Just  a  month  after 
Rossbach,  at  Leuthen,  near  Breslau,  he  signally  defeated, 
with  34,000  men,  more  than  twice  as  many  Austrians,  and 
drove  them  pell-mell  over  the  passes  of  the  Giant  Mountains 
back  into  their  own  dominions.  Fear  and  incapacity  had 
already  arrested  the  Swedes  and  Russians.  Before  winter 
came  both  had  slipped  away,  and  at  Christmas,  1757,  Fred- 
erick could  call  himself  lord  of  an  undiminished  kingdom. 

In  no  succeeding  campaign  was  Frederick  threatened  by  Altered  posi- 
such  overwhelming  forces  as  in  1757.     By  the  next  year  Frederick 
England  had  fitted  out  an  army,  largely  of  German  mer-  fronii758on. 
cenaries,  which,  under  Ferdinand  of  Brunswick,  operated 
against  the  French  upon  the  Rhine,  and  so  protected  Fred- 
erick from  that  side.     As  the  Swedish  offence,  through  the 
total  incapacity  of  the  government,  displayed  no   energy, 
Frederick  was  permitted  to  make  light  of  his  Scandinavian 
enemy,  and  give  all  his  attention  to  Austria  and  Russia.     No 
doubt,  even  so,  the  odds  against  Prussia  were  enormous. 


320 


The  Rise  of  Prussia 


1  rowing  fee- 
)leness  of 


'russia. 


Peace  with 
Russia,  1762. 


Prussia  was  a  poor,  barren  country  of  5,000,000  inhabitants, 
and  in  men  and  resources  Austria  and  Russia  together  out- 
stripped her  many  times;  but  at  the  head  of  Prussia  stood 
a  mihtary  genius  with  a  spirit  that  neither  bent  nor  broke, 
and  that  fact  sufficed  for  a  while  to  estabhsh  an  equihbrium. 

It  was  Frederick's  pohcy  during  the  next  years  to  meet  the 
Austrians  and  Russians  separately,  in  order  to  keep  them 
from  rolling  down  upon  him  with  combined  forces.  In  1758 
he  succeeded  in  beating  the  Russians  at  Zorndorf  and  driv- 
ing them  back,  but  in  1759  they  beat  him  in  a  battle  of  un- 
exampled carnage  at  Kunersdorf.  For  a  moment  now  it 
looked  as  if  he  were  lost,  but  he  somehow  raised  another 
force  about  him,  and  the  end  of  the  campaign  found  him 
not  much  worse  off  than  the  beginning.  However,  he  was 
evidently  getting  feeble;  the  terrible  strain  continued  through 
years  was  beginning  to  tell;  and  when  on  the  death  of  George 
II.,  the  new  English  monarch,  George  III.  refused  (1761) 
to  pay  the  annual  subsidy,  by  which  alone  Frederick  was 
enabled  to  fill  the  thinned  ranks  of  the  army  each  year  and 
equip  the  men,  the  proud  king  himself  could  hardly  keep 
up  his  hopes. 

At  this  crisis  Frederick  was  saved  by  a  turn  of  the  wheel 
of  fortune.  Frederick's  implacable  enemy,  the  Czarina 
Elizabeth,  died  January  5,  1762,  and  as  Russia  had  no  di- 
rect interest  in  the  war,  but  had  engaged  in  it  only  because 
the  Czarina  had  a  personal  dislike  for  Frederick,  there  was 
no  reason  why  her  successor,  Peter  III.,  who  was  an  ardent 
admirer  of  the  Prussian  king,  should  not  come  to  terms 
with  him.  Peter  in  his  enthusiasm  even  insisted  on  allying 
himself  with  his  country's  late  enemy;  but  little  came  of  this 
plan,  as  he  was  overthrown  and  murdered  in  July,  1762,  and 
Catherine  II.,  who  succeeded  him,  would  not  engage  further 
in  the  war.  However,  she  made  Frederick  eternally  grate- 
ful by  at  least  ratifying  the  peace  which  Peter  had  concluded. 


The  Rise  of  Prussia  321 


This  same  year  England  and  France  came  to  an  understand- 
ing (Preliminaries  of  Fontainebleau,  1762)  and  hostilities 
between  them  were  at  once  suspended  at  all  points.  So 
there  remained  under  arms  of  the  great  powers  only  Austria 
and  Prussia;  and  as  Austria  could  not  hope  to  do  unaided 
what  she  had  failed  to  do  with  half  of  Europe  at  her  side,   Third  cession 

.  ,    ,  ,  1       J  ^  of  Silesia, 

Maria  Theresa,  although  with  heavy  heart,  resolved  to  come   1^63. 
to  terms.     In  the  Peace  of  Hubertsburg  (February,  1763) 
the  cession  of  Silesia  to  Frederick  was  made  final. 

Counting  from  the  Peace  of  Hubertsburg  Frederick  had  Labors  of 
still  twenty-three  years  before  him,  which  he  devoted  with 
unslacking  energy  to  the  works  of  peace.  And  all  his  skill 
and  husbandry  were  required  to  bring  his  exhausted  coun- 
try back  to  vigor.  We  now  hear  again,  as  during  the  first 
period  of  peace  (1745-56),  of  extensive  reforms,  of  the  for- 
mation of  provincial  banks,  the  draining  of  bogs,  the  cutting 
of  canals,  and  the  encouragement  of  industries,  in  a  word, 
of  all  those  peaceful  activities  which  a  wise  ruler  has  always 
set  above  the  ephemeral  glories  of  war. 

Only  two  political  events  of  the  last  period  of  Frederick's   Frederick  ac- 

•^  .  ^  ,  .  1  J    quires  West 

life  claim  our  attention.     In  1772  the  ancient  anarchy  and   Prussia, 
weakness  of  Poland  precipitated  the  event  which  intelligent 
observers  had  long  foreseen.     Her  three  neighbors,  Russia, 
Austria,  and  Prussia,  agreed  to  appropriate  each  one  some 
convenient  province  of  the  stricken  country.     Frederick  re- 
ceived as  his  share  the  province  of  West  Prussia,  which  had 
been  won  by  Poland  from  the  Teutonic  Order  many  hundred 
years  ago,  and  by  means  of  it  established  the  territorial  con- 
tinuity of  his  eastern  and  central  provinces.    In  1778  another 
war  threatened  to  break  out  with  Austria.     Joseph  II.,  who, 
on  the  death  of  his  father,  Francis  I.,  in  1765,  had  suc- 
ceeded him  as  emperor,  and  who,  even  in  the  lifetime  of  his 
mother,  had  been  admitted  to  a  share  in  the  government  of 
the  Hapsburg  dominions,  was  a  young  man  of  high-flying 


322 


The  Rise  of  Prussia 


Frederick 
vetoes  Joseph's 
attempt  to 
absorb 
Bavaria. 


Rivalry  be- 
tween Prussia 
and  Austria. 


plans  and  ambitions.  On  the  extinction,  in  1777,  of  the 
reigning  branch  of  the  House  of  Wittelsbach,  he  schemed  to 
acquire  Bavaria.  As  that  would  have  given  back  to  Aus- 
tria her  ancient  predominance  in  Germany,  Frederick  II. 
was  resolved  to  resist  the  project  at  all  costs,  and  took  the 
field.  But  the  quarrel  was  patched  up  before  a  battle  had 
been  fought  by  the  intervention  of  Maria  Theresa,  who  had 
no  taste  for  again  trying  conclusions  with  Prussia.  The 
gist  of  the  settlement  was  that  Joseph  sacrificed  his  ambi- 
tion, and  in  1779  the  so-called  War  of  the  Bavarian  Suc- 
cession came  to  an  end  without  bloodshed.  In  1786  Fred- 
erick died  at  his  favorite  country-seat,  called  Sans  Souci, 
which  he  had  built  for  himself  near  Potsdam.  His  memor- 
able reign  had  lasted  forty-six  years. 

It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  Frederick  won  for 
Prussia  a  position  among  the  great  powers  of  Europe.  A 
consequence  of  that  success,  which  is  implied  in  every  page 
of  his  history,  is  that  he  became  the  rival  of  Austria  for  the 
supremacy  in  Germany.  From  now  on  the  open  and  secret 
struggle  of  these  two  states,  the  one  trying  to  maintain  its 
traditional  ascendancy,  the  other  resolved  not  to  lose  what  it 
had  won,  is  the  main  theme  of  German  history.  The  fact 
that  one  lay  in  the  north  and  was  Protestant,  while  the  other 
held  the  south  and  was  Catholic,  gave  a  sectional  and  re- 
ligious edge  to  their  rivalry,  which  continued  to  disturb  and 
paralyze  Germany  until  a  new  war  in  1866,  within  the  mem- 
ory of  the  generation  which  is  only  just  vanishing,  swept  the 
old  issue  out  of  existence  by  giving  the  victory  and  its  fruits 
to  Prussia.  Thereupon  Prussia  planned  and,  in  1871,  carriert 
to  successful  issue  a  new  unification  of  Germany,  in  which 
the  student  will  not  fail  to  perceive  that  Frederick  the  Great 
had  a  hand. 


CHAPTER  XV 

ENGLAND   AND    FRANCE   IN   THE   EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY 

References:  Gardiner,  Student's  History  of  England,Parts 
VIII.,  IX.,  pp.  649-819;  Green,  Short  History  of  the 
English  People,  Chapter  IX.  (beginning  Section  7), 
Chapter  X.  (Sections  1-3);  Terry,  History  of  England, 
pp.  805-941;  Traill,  William  III.;  Perkins,  France 
under  Louis  XV.;  Parkman,  Half  Century  of  Conflict; 
Parkman,  Montcalm  and  Wolfe;  Malleson,  Dupleix 
(Rulers  of  India) ;  also  Clive  (Rulers  of  India) ;  Mahan, 
Influence  of  Sea  Power  upon  History;  Lecky,  Eng- 
land in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  8  vols,  (a  detailed 
review) . 

Source  Readings:  Robinson,  Readings,  Vol.  II.,  Chapter 
XXXIII.  (The  English  in  India  and  America);  Adams 
and  Stephens,  Documents,  No.  237  (First  Mutiny  Act), 
Nos.  240-58  (including  Act  of  Settlement,  Act  of  Union 
with  Scotland,  Act  of  Union  with  Ireland) ;  Colby,  Se- 
lections from  the  Sources,  Part  VII. 

The  "Glorious  Revolution"  of  1688  put  an  end  to  the  The  signifi- 
long  civil  wars  of  England.     By  supplanting  James  with   "^gIoHous** 
William  and  Mary,  it  secured  the  Protestant  religion;  by  the   Revolution." 
Bill  of  Rights,  it  brought  the  king  in  all  respects  under  the 
law  and  added  the  coping  stone  to  the  coyistiiutional  mon- 
archy; and  by  the  Toleration  Act,  it  gave  the  right  of  worship 
to  Dissenters,  and  paved  the  way  for  religious  peace.     Prot- 
estantism, constitutionalism,  and  religious  peace,  these  three, 
are  the  main  pillars  of  modern  England,  which  may  thus  be 
said  to  have  come  into  being  with  the  advent  of  William. 


324 


England  ajid  France 


William 
throws  Engr 
land  into  the 
scale  against 
France. 


William  and 

James  in 
reland. 


For  the  first  few  years  of  his  reign  William  had  to  secure 
his  throne  by  fighting.  James  II.  had  sought  refuge  with 
Louis  XIV.,  and  the  decision  of  the  French  king  to  espouse 
the  cause  of  James  naturally  threw  England  on  the  side  of 
the  allies,  consisting  of  the  emperor,  the  Dutch,  and  Spain, 
with  whom  Louis  had  just  engaged  in  the  war  known  as  the 
War  of  the  Palatinate  (1688-97).  The  event  marks  a  turn- 
ing-point in  the  fortunes  of  the  French  king.  His  policy  of 
continental  aggression  had  been  attended  so  far  with  success, 
especially  as  he  had  met  with  help  rather  than  hindrance 
from  England.  Henceforth  England  was  found  shoulder  to 
shoulder  with  the  continental  nations  against  the  disturber 
of  the  public  peace.  This  action  her  national  interests  had 
long  ago  demanded,  but  it  was  one  of  the  penalties  she  paid 
for  putting  up  with  Stuart  rule,  that  she  was  governed  not 
for  her  own  but  for  dynastic  ends.  It  is  the  great  merit  of 
William  that  he  identified  himself  with  the  nation  and  gave 
an  impulse  to  English  affairs,  which,  steadily  gathering 
strength  during  the  next  century,  ended  not  only  with  check- 
ing the  ambition  of  France  on  the  Continent,  but  also  in 
wresting  from  her  her  best  colonies  and  the  undisputed  su- 
premacy of  the  seas.  To  the  same  reign,  therefore,  which 
witnessed  the  triumph  of  constitutionalism,  we  must  also  set 
down  the  launching  of  England  upon  her  maritime  and 
imperial  policy. 

The  War  of  the  Palatinate  has  been  dealt  with  in  our  nar- 
rative of  Louis  XIV.,  except  that  phase  which  belongs  ex- 
clusively to  England.  The  story  of  this  takes  us  to  Ireland. 
In  March,  i68g,  James  II.  crossed  from  France,  and  im- 
mediately the  Irish,  who  were  enthusiastic  Catholics,  gath- 
ered around  him.  To  them  James  II.  was  the  legitimate 
king,  while  to  the  English  and  Scottish  settlers  of  Ireland, 
who  sympathized  with  Protestant  William,  he  was  no  better 
than  a  usurper.     Again  the  terrible  race  hatred  of  Celt  and 


In  the  EigJUeenth  Century  325 

Saxon  flamed  up  in  war.  The  Protestants  were  driven  from 
their  homes,  and  for  a  time  it  looked  as  if  the  island  would 
fall  back  to  its  original  owners.  However,  on  July  i,  1690, 
William  signally  defeated  James  at  the  battle  of  the  Boyne, 
whereupon  the  Stuart,  who  was  a  despicable  soldier,  hur- 
ried back  to  France,  shamefully  abandoning  to  the  mercies 
of  the  English  the  people  who  had  risen  in  his  support.  The 
measures  by  which  the  victorious  William  now  supplemented 
the  legislation  of  his  predecessors  broke  the  back  of  Irish 
resistance  for  a  hundred  years. 

It  will  be  well  before  we  speak  of  these  measures  to  review  The  relations 
the  relations  of  England  and  Ireland  during  the  whole  sev-  and  ifefami. 
enteenth  century.  When  James  I.  mounted  the  throne  in 
1603,  Ireland  had  been  a  dependency  of  the  English  crown 
for  nearly  five  hundred  years,  but  the  English  rule  had  rarely 
been  more  than  nominal,  for  the  government  generally  con- 
trolled no  more  than  a  few  districts  of  the  eastern  coast, 
known  as  the  English  pale.  The  heart  of  the  island  was 
held  by  the  native  tribes,  who,  governed  by  their  chiefs  in 
accordance  with  their  own  laws  and  customs,  remained 
practically  independent.  If,  instead  of  perpetual  local  war- 
fare, there  had  been  a  spirit  of  unity  among  the  Irish,  their 
conquerors  might  have  been  crowded  out  entirely,  for  not  till 
the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  did  the  government  adopt  a  vigor- 
ous policy  toward  the  smaller  island,  and  not  till  the  very 
close  of  Elizabeth's  reign  was  English  authority  effectively 
established.  Almost  her  last  triumph  was  the  putting  down 
by  her  army  of  the  great  rebellion  in  Ulster,  led  by  Hugh 
O'Neill.  When  James  I.  succeeded  Elizabeth,  he  took  a 
step  fraught  with  tremendous  consequences.  He  resolved 
to  confiscate  the  northeastern  districts,  constituting  the 
province  of  Ulster,  and  colonize  them  with  English  and  Thecoloniia- 
Scottish  settlers,  as  the  best  means  for  securing  the  utstw. 
peaceful  development   of  the   island.      In   1610  the  Irish 


326 


Ejigland  and  France 


The  policy  of 
confiscation 
under  Crom- 
well and 
William. 


of  Ulster  were  crowded  out,  with  no  more  said  than  that 
they  must  find  subsistence  elsewhere.  Since  that  act  an 
implacable  hatred  has  ruled  the  relations  of  oppressors  and 
oppressed. 

In  the  year  1641,  when  the  troubles  between  king  and 
Parliament  temporarily  annihilated  the  power  of  England, 
the  Irish  fell  upon  the  colonists  of  Ulster,  and  murdered 
them  or  drove  them  from  their  homes.     The  English  revenge 
for  this  outrage  had,  of  course,  to  be  delayed  until  the  execu- 
tion of  the  king  and  the  victory  of  the  Parliament  had  re- 
established the  authority  of  the  nation.     At  length,  in  1649, 
Cromwell  undertook  to  reconquer  Ireland.     He  was  suc- 
cessful, but  not  without  much  cruelty  and  bloodshed.     To 
the  long-standing  race  hatred,  it  must  be  remembered,  had 
been  added,  since  the  sixteenth  century,  the  incentive  of  re- 
ligious passion   to  trouble  the  relations  between  the  two 
peoples.     In  the  conviction  that  conciliation  would  be  in- 
terpreted  as   weakness,    Cromwell    resumed    the    former 
policy  of  plunder  and  confiscation,  with  the  result  that  two- 
thirds  of  the  island  now  passed  into  English  hands.     The 
dispossessed  Irish  were  bidden  to  go  find  bread  or  else  a 
grave  in  the  bogs  and  forests  of  the  west.     When  William 
III.  in  1690  overthrew  the  next  insurrection  at  the  battle  of 
the  Boyne,  the  policy  of  confiscation  scored  another  and  a 
final  triumph,  and  therewith  the  Irish  became  a  people  with- 
out land,  without  rights,  and  without  a  future.     To  com- 
plete their  misery  the  Parliament  at  London  presently  struck 
at  their  commerce  and  industry  by  forbidding  the  importation 
into  England  of  cattle  and  dairy  products,  for  which  the  Irish 
soil  and  climate  were  particularly  suitable,  and  of  woollens, 
which  had  acquired  a  merited  renown.     Thus  by  a  merci- 
less application  of  the  rights  of  conquest  the  Irish  were  made 
aliens  in  their  own  land,  and  were  reduced  to  becoming 
tenants,  day-laborers,  and  beggars. 


In  the  Eighteenth  Century  327 


It  has  already  been  said  that  WiUiam's  great  merit  as  William  labon 
sovereign  of  England  was  that  he  enabled  her  to  adopt  a  France, 
policy  in  harmony  with  her  national  interests.     He  gave  his 
chief  attention  to  creating  a  system  of  balance  to  the  kingdom 
of  France,  allying  himself  for  this  purpose  with  the  powers 
threatened  by  France,  most  particularly  with  the  emperor 
and  the  Dutch.     Of  this  combination  he  became  the  guiding 
spirit,  and  as  its  head  waged  with  Louis  the  War  of  the 
Palatinate  (1689-97),  with  the  result  that  the  French  king 
drew  ofT  at  the  Peace  of  Ryswick  without  a  gain.     William 
spent  the  next  years  in  negotiating  with  Louis  an  equitable 
division  of  the  expected  Spanish  heritage;  but  when,  in  the 
year  1700,  the  king  of  Spain,  Charles  II.,  died,  leaving  a 
will  in  favor  of  the  House  of  Bourbon,  Louis  XIV.  disavowed 
the  negotiations  by  sending  his  grandson,  Philip,  to  Madrid 
to  assume  the  rule  of  the  undivided  Spanish  dominions. 
Out  of  this  presumptuous  act  grew  the  War  of  the  Spanish 
Succession,  for  which  William  had  hardly  prepared,  by  a 
renewal  of  his  continental  alliances,  when  he  died  (1702). 
Since  his  wife,  Mary,  had  died  some  years  before  (1694), 
without  issue,  the  crown  now  passed  to  Mary's  sister  Anne, 
but   as   it  was   foreseen,   even   in  William's   lifetime,  that 
Anne,  too,  would  leave  no  offspring,  a  special  statute  was  The  Act  of 
passed,  called  the  Act  of  Settlement  (1701),  for  the  purpose  f^"!^""^"*' 
of  regulating  the  succession.     The  act  established  that  the 
crown  could  descend  only  to  a  Protestant,  and  accordingly 
named  the  Electress  Sophia  of  Hanover,  granddaughter  of 
James  I.  through  his  daughter  Elizabeth,  as  the  next  heir 
after  Anne.^ 

We  have  seen  that  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary,   ThePariia- 
secured  and  consecrated  by  the  Bill  of  Rights,  definitely   [^  grow  at  the 
subjected  the  sovereign  to  the  law  and  established  the  victory   ^^^^^  "^  ^^^ 
of  the  Parliament  in  the  long  struggle  with  the  king      Not 


'  See  Genealogical  Table  of  the  Kings  of  England. 


328  England  and  France 

unnaturally  the  Parliament  now  proceeded  to  take  advantage 
of  its  hard-won  ascendancy  by  completing  the  constitutional 
edifice  after  its  own  plan.  Without  interruption  but  with- 
out haste,  act  followed  act  in  the  following  decades.  Their 
general  tendency  was  to  enlarge  the  sphere  of  the  Parliament 
at  the  expense  of  the  royal  power,  until  the  entire  government 
became  gradually  vested  in  the  representatives  of  the  people 
and  the  monarch  was  reduced  to  a  position  largely  orna- 
mental. Let  us  take  note  what  contributions  toward  this 
result  were  made  in  the  reign  of  William. 
Annual  grants  The  first  subject  to  be  considered  is  the  important  matter 
Parliaments-  ^f  supplies.  The  Parliaments  of  the  past  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  voting  certain  revenues  for  the  king's  lifetime,  there- 
by  securing  to  the  sovereign  a  relative  independence  and 
putting  it  in  his  power  not  to  call  the  legislature  at  all. 
William's  Parliaments  now  fell  into  the  habit  of  annual 
grants,  which  greatly  enhanced  Parliamentary  influence, 
since  the  king,  merely  to  keep  the  government  going,  was 
obliged  to  summon  the  Parliament  every  year.  This  system 
necessarily  led  to  the  drawing  up  on  the  part  of  the  govern- 
ment of  an  annual  budget  of  expenditures,  every  item  of 
which  fell  under  the  lynx-eyed  scrutiny  of  the  Parliament. 
Annual  budget  and  annual  Parliament  are  correlated  terms, 
which  have  secured  the  minute  control  of  the  purse,  and 
therewith  of  the  government  itself,  to  the  representatives  of 
the  nation.  Hardly  less  important  was  the  Mutiny  Act, 
which  along  with  the  revenue  arrangements  just  mentioned 
helped  assure  the  annual  return  of  Parliament.  By  this 
statute  military  courts  for  the  punishment  of  mutiny  and 
other  acts  of  insubordination  were  authorized  for  one  year 
only.  It  was  a  clever  device  for  creating  an  army,  which, 
although  permanent,  could  never  become  a  tool  of  despot- 
ism, because  it  was  always  under  the  hand  of  the  Parlia- 
ment.     Finally    let   us    note   that   a    step,    constituting  a 


In  the  Eighteenth  Century  329 


maenificent  tribute  to  the  modern  spirit,  was  the  refusal   Liberty  of  the 

,..,,..,,,       press,  1695. 

(1695)  to  renew  the  act  subjecting  all  printed  matter  to 
official  censorship.  Henceforth  England  enjoyed  a  free  and 
unfettered  press,  which  is  the  necessary  accompaniment  of 
a  free  government. 

The  event  of  the  reign  of  Anne  (1702-14)  overshadowing  The  War  of 
aH  others  was  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession.     It  has   succession. 
been  treated  elsewhere,  with  due  regard  to  the  fact  that  Eng- 
land won  in  this  conflict  a  leading  position  among  the  pow- 
ers of  Europe.     But  Marlborough's  march  of  victory  from 
Blenheim  to  Malplaquet  did  not  excite  universal  approval 
in  England.     The  Tories,  who  were  recruited  largely  from 
the  gentry,  and  who  nourished  in  religious  matters  exclusive 
Anglican  sympathies  together  with  a  sentimental  attachment 
to  the  Stuart  connection,  had  never  looked  upon  the  war 
with  favor.     As  the  taxes  grew  heavier  and  the  national  debt 
became  more  burdensome,  an  increasing  part  of  the  popula- 
tion rallied  to  the  opposition.    It  was  chiefly  with  the  aid  of 
the  Whigs,  who  were  in  control  of  the  Parliament  and  minis- 
try, and  of  the  duchess  of  Marlborough,  who  governed  the 
easy-going,  good-natured  queen,  that  the  duke  was  enabled 
to  carry  on  his  campaigns  in  the  Netherlands  and  Germany. 
However,  the  duchess,  who  was  a  high-strung  and  arrogant 
lady,  and  not  always  capable  of  maintaining  that  polite  dis- 
cretion which  is  the  secret  of  success  at  courts,  gradually  fell 
out  of  favor,  and  in  171 1  the  queen,  suddenly  disgusted  with 
the  whole  Whig  connection,  dismissed  the  Whigs  from  office. 
There  followed  a  ministry  of  Tories,  with  a  policy  of  peace 
at  any  price,  and  the  result  was  that  Marlborough  was  dis- 
graced, and  that  England  signed  with  France,  in  17 13,  the 
Peace  of  Utrecht.     Although  the  peace  involved  a  breach  of 
faith  toward  the  allies,  and  although  the  negotiators  did  not 
get  all  they  might  have  had,  some  of  the  results  of  English 
success  upon  land  and  sea  even  Tory  precipitation  could 


330 


England  and  France 


Union  of 
England  and 
Scotland,  1707. 


Accession  of 
the  House  of 
Hanover. 


George  I. 
leans  upon 
the  Whigs. 


not  sacrifice.  England  acquired  from  France  Newfound- 
land, Nova  Scotia,  and  the  Hudson  Bay  territory;  from 
Spain,  Gibraltar  and  Minorca;  but,  best  of  all,  she  could  now 
count  herself  without  a  rival  upon  the  sea. 

While  the  war  was  at  its  height  an  event  occurred  of  the 
greatest  possible  importance,  the  effective  union  of  England 
and  Scotland.  Ever  since  the  accession  of  James  I.  in  1603, 
the  two  kingdoms  had  had  a  common  sovereign;  but,  for  the 
rest,  they  had  remained  jealously  independent  of  each  other. 
In  1707  the  ghost  of  ancient  rivalry  and  war  was  laid  for  good 
and  all  by  an  agreement  which  merged  the  two  ParHaments 
in  one.  Scotland  henceforth  sent  her  representatives  to  the 
House  of  Lords  and  House  of  Commons  at  Westminster, 
and  the  two  nations  accepted  the  same  lot  in  good  and  evil 
fortune.  The  adoption  of  the  common  name  of  Great  Brit- 
ain consecrated  the  partnership. 

In  the  year  17 14  Anne  died,  and  the  crown  fell  to  the  House 
of  Hanover,  whose  family  name  is  Guelph.  Since  the  Elec- 
tress  Sophia,  who  had  been  designated  by  the  Act  of  Settle- 
ment as  the  eventual  heir,  had  preceded  Anne  in  death,  her 
son,  George  I.,  now  ascended  the  throne.  Some  great  stroke 
on  the  part  of  the  Pretender,  the  son  of  James  II.,  was  ex- 
pected, but  when  it  fell  (17 15),  it  turned  out  to  be  harm- 
less. The  man  who  claimed  to  be  James  III.  was  a  dull 
sybarite,  and  had  hardly  landed  when  his  courage  failed 
him  and  he  turned  back  to  France. 

George  L  (1714-27),  who  owed  his  elevation  to  the  Whigs, 
naturally  chose  his  first  advisers  from  that  party.  As  the 
Tories  were  more  or  less  compromised  by  their  support  of 
the  Stuart  claim,  George  clung  to  the  WTiigs  for  the  rest 
of  his  life,  and  thus  laid  the  foundations  of  that  long  era  of 
Whig  control  which  puts  its  stamp  upon  English  history  for 
the  next  fifty  years. 

This  prolonged  power  of  a  single  party  helped  Parliament 


/;/  the  Eighteenth  Century  331 

in  taking  another  and  a  final  step  toward  acquiring  com-  Development 
plete  control  of  the  state;  with  George  I.  is  associated  the  government, 
definite  establishment  of  cabinet  government.  We  have  al- 
ready seen  that  as  far  back  as  Charles  II.  the  Parliament  was 
divided  into  two  parties,  each  taking  its  stand  upon  a  definite 
programme.  As  things  stood  then,  even  if  the  majority  of 
the  Commons  happened  to  be  Tory,  the  king  was  free  to 
choose  his  ministry  from  the  Whigs.  Sooner  or  later  it  was 
bound  to  appear  that  such  a  division,  permitting  the  ministry 
to  pull  one  way  and  the  Parliament  another,  was  harmful,  and 
that  to  attain  the  best  results  the  ministry  would  have  to  be  in 
accord  with  the  majority  of  the  Commons.  The  change  meant 
a  new  loss  of  influence  by  the  king,  but  under  George  I.  it 
was  duly  effected.  George  was  a  sluggish  person,  not  deeply 
interested  in  England,  and  not  even  capable  of  understand- 
ing the  language  of  his  new  subjects.  He  made  no  effort  to 
defend  his  prerogative  against  the  usurping  Parliament. 
Henceforth  the  ministry  was  still  named  by  the  king;  but 
as  no  set  of  men  who  had  not  first  assured  themselves  that 
they  were  supported  by  a  majority  in  the  Commons  would 
undertake  the  administration,  the  party  in  majority  practi- 
cally dictated  the  king's  cabinet.  With  the  annual  vote  of  sup- 
plies, and  with  cabinet  and  party  rule  established  as  cus- 
tomary features  of  the  English  Government,  the  constitution 
may  be  said  to  have  reached  the  character  which  distin- 
guishes it  to-day. 

George's  reign  was  a  reign  of  peace.  Peace  was  the  Whig  Walpole's  rule  ■* 
programme  because  it  furnished  just  the  opportunity  wanted  "  common- 
to  develop  the  prosperity  of  the  great  middle  class,  upon 
which  the  Whigs  depended  against  the  combination  of  Tory 
landlord  and  Tory  clergyman.  The  leading  man  among  the 
Whigs  was  Sir  Robert  Walpole.  One  may  sum  up  his  plat- 
form by  saying  that  he  wished  to  settle  England  under  the 
Hanoverian  dynasty  and  give  free  play  to  the  commercial 


sense. 


332  England  and  France 


and  industrial  energy  of  his  countrymen.  The  period  which 
he  directed  is,  therefore,  wel'  entitled  the  era  of  common- 
sense.  To  carry  out  his  programme,  Walpole  needed  a  steady 
majority  in  the  Commons,  which,  following  the  dictates  of  his 
worldly  philosophy,  he  got,  if  necessary,  by  corrupting  mem- 
bers. "All  those  men  have  their  price,"  he  said,  referring 
smilingly  to  a  group  of  orators,  who  made  a  business  of  dis- 
playing a  pretended  patriotism.  In  spite  of  its  gross  mate- 
riaUsm  and  want  of  moral  uplift,  Walpole's  government  was 
in  accord  with  the  wishes  and  interest  of  the  nation  and 
enjoyed  an  unusually  long  lease  of  power. 
War  with  It  was  Only  when  the  Whig  leader  set  himself  against  the 

pain,  1739.  people  that  he  lost  his  hold.  George  I.  had  meanwhile  been 
succeeded  by  George  II.  (1727-60).  The  new  king  was, 
like  his  father,  without  a  spark  of  higher  intelligence,  but 
was  characterized,  like  him,  by  a  certain  downrightness  and 
solidity.  Under  the  direction  of  Walpole  he  continued  the 
peace  pohcy  of  George  I.  until  a  succession  of  events  plunged 
England,  and  soon  all  Europe,  again  into  war.  For  some 
time  the  relations  between  England  and  Spain  had  been 
growing  strained  because  English  merchants  were  beginning 
to  invade  the  Spanish  seas.  The  selfish  commercial  monop- 
oly which  Spain  had  established  had  been  partially  relaxed 
by  an  agreement  called  the  assiento,  granting  to  England 
certain  trading  privileges  with  the  Spanish  colonies.  When 
the  English  overstepped  these  concessions  and  the  Span- 
iards answered  with  penal  measures,  disputes  arose  which, 
growing  ever  more  bitter,  at  last  forced  Walpole,  against  his 
will,  to  declare  war.  The  next  year  the  continental  powers 
became  involved  among  themselves,  owing  to  the  death  of 
Emperor  Charles  VI.  (1740)  and  the  dispute  about  the 
Austrian  succession.  England,  through  her  kings,  who,  we 
must  never  forget,  were  also  electors  of  Hanover,  had  greater 
interest  than  ever  in  the  Continent  at  this  time.    As  Spain 


In  the  Eight eoiih  Century  333 


and  France  attacked  Austria  hoping  to  partition  her,  Eng- 
land, ah-eady  at  war  with  Spain  and  in  sympathy  with  England's  war 

,  ^     1  ,  •       1  J     1  merged  in  the 

Austria,  presently  saw  herself  obliged  to  declare  war  upon  general  war. 
Austria's  enemy,  France.  The  two  distinct  wars,  that  of 
England  with  Spain  about  commercial  privileges  and  that 
of  Austria  with  France  and  Spain,  who  were  trying  to  dis- 
member her,  were,  therefore,  merged  in  one.  There  followed 
the  general  conflict  known  as  the  War  of  the  Austrian  Suc- 
cession (1740-48).  As  Walpole  was  unsuited  for  an  enter- 
prise of  this  nature,  and  as,  moreover,  he  stood  personally  for 
peace,  his  majority  melted  away,  and  in  1742  he  resigned. 
He  had  directed  the  destinies  of  England  for  twenty-one 
years  (1721-42). 

The  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession,  as  far  as  England  The  War  of 

1    .        ,        »       ,    ■  the  Austrian 

took  a  hand  m  it,  was  principally  waged  m  the  Austrian  Succession 
Netherlands,  which  England  agreed  to  help  defend  against  E°Jiish%int 
France,  and  upon  the  seas  and  in  the  colonies.  On  the  seas  of  view, 
the  English  maintained  their  old  mastery,  but  in  the  Nether- 
lands they  and  the  Austrians  lost  ground,  owing  chiefly  to 
the  superior  ability  displayed  by  the  French  commander, 
Marshal  Saxe.  In  1745  the  marshal  won  the  great  battle  of 
Fontenoy  and  overran  all  the  Austrian  Netherlands;  but 
when  peace  was  signed  in  1748,  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  the 
powers  one  and  all  restored  their  conquests,  an  exception 
being  made  only  in  favor  of  Frederick  of  Prussia,  who  was 
allowed  to  retain  Silesia.  The  Anglo-Spanish  war,  origi- 
nating in  a  vital  commercial  issue,  had  become  complicated 
with  other  questions,  and  when  peace  came  the  English 
negotiators  drew  up  a  treaty  which  scrupulously  avoided  the 
original  question  in  dispute. 

A  memorable  incident  of  this  war  was  the  attempt  of  The  invasion 
Charles  Edward  Stuart,  son  of  the  Pretender,  and  known  as  Pretende""^ 
the  Young  Pretender,  to  win  back  his  kingdom.     The  defeat   ^74S- 
of  the  British  at  the  battle  of  Fontenoy  was  his  opportunity, 


334  England  and  France 


and  in  July,  1745,  he  landed,  with  only  seven  men,  in  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland.    The  Highlanders  were  at  this  time 
still  divided  into  clans,  at  the  head  of  which  stood  hereditary 
chiefs.     As  Celts,  they  were  by  no  means  friendly  to  the 
Teutonic  Lowlanders  of  Scotland  and  to  the  English.    More- 
over,  they  were  practically  self-governed,  and  were  sub- 
jected to  the  Hanoverian  king  at  London  in  hardly  anything 
more  than  name.     That  Prince  Charlie,  as  the  Young  Pre- 
tender was  fondly  called,  had  thrown  himself  upon  their 
mercy,  stirred  their  imagination  and  kindled  their  generous 
hearts  to  wild  enthusiasm.     Flocking  around  him  in  crowds, 
they  advanced  from  point  to  point  until  by  an  irresistible 
rush  they  captured  Edinburgh.     For  a  moment  the  govern- 
ment at  London  lost  its  head,  but  when  the  troops  had  been 
hurried  home  from  the  Netherlands,  it  was  soon  found  that 
the  wild  courage  of  feudal  clans  was  of  no  avail  against  the 
discipline  of  a  trained  army.     On  Culloden  Moor  (April, 
1746)  the  Highlanders  were  defeated  with  fearful  slaughter 
by  the  king's  second  son,  the  duke  of  Cumberland.     Prince 
Charlie,  after  many  romantic  adventures,  made  his  escape, 
but  broken  apparently  by  his  one  capital  misfortune,  he 
lived  ever  afterward  in  indolence  abroad,  and  gave  no  further 
trouble  (d.  1788).     Flis  failure  marks  the  last  Stuart  attempt 
to  recover  the  throne. 
The  Regency  While  England,  under  Walpolc,  was  preparing  to  assume 

in  France.  ^^^  commercial  leadership  of  the  world,  France  was  doing 

litde  or  nothing  to  recover  from  the  disasters  of  the  War  of 
the  Spanish  Succession.  When  the  aged  Louis  XIV.  died, 
in  the  year  17 15,  he  was  succeeded  by  his  great-grandson, 
Louis  XV.  (1715-74).  As  Louis  XV.  was  but  five  years  old 
at  the  time,  the  government  during  his  minority  was  exercised 
in  his  name  by  the  nephew  of  Louis  XIV.,  Philip,  duke  of 
Orleans.  The  regent  Orleans,  although  a  man  of  parts 
and  a  celebrated  wit,  was  so  passionately  given  to  the  pursuit 


In  the  Eighteenth  Century  335 

of  pleasure  that  he  only  plunged  France  deeper  into  economic 
and  financial  misery.  Perhaps  the  one  good  point  about  his 
rule  was  that  he  did  at  least  recognize  the  advantage  of 
peace.  But  it  was  not  enough  to  make  him  popular,  and 
when  he  died,  in  1723,  he  was  regretted  by  none  but  the 
companions  of  his  wild  nights. 

Shortly  after  the  regent's  death  Louis  XV.  was  declared  of   Cardinal 

Flcurv 

age,  and  Cardinal  Fleury,  the  confidant  of  the  young  king, 
assumed  control  of  affairs  (1726-43).  Fleury  fully  accepted 
Orleans's  policy  of  peace  and  managed  besides  to  reduce 
the  finances  to  some  kind  of  order.  Nevertheless,  his  ad- 
ministration is  marked  by  two  wars,  forced  on  him  by  cir- 
cumstances which  he  was  too  weak  to  command.  In  the 
year  1733  France  became  involved  with  Austria  because  of 
the  different  sides  taken  by  these  two  powers  in  the  election 
of  a  Polish  king.  The  so-called  War  of  the  Polish  Succession  France  ac- 
(1733-35)  is  unmemorable  except  for  the  acquisition  by  rain" 
France  of  the  duchy  of  Lorraine.  Lorraine  was  still  techni- 
cally a  member  of  the  Empire,  though  the  hold  of  France  had 
been  steadily  tightening  upon  it  during  the  last  hundred  years. 
Now  it  was  merged  with  the  western  kingdom,  thereby  com- 
pleting the  long  list  of  conquests  which  France  had  been 
making  from  Germany  since  the  time  of  Henry  II.  (1552). 

In  the  year  1740  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Charles  VI.   The  War  of 
and  the  accession  in  Austria  of  the  young  girl  Maria  Theresa   suVcession  " 
so  completely  turned  the  head  of  the  court  party  at  Versailles   ^^"^  '^^  . 

'  _    ^  ^  ^       ■'  French  p)Oint 

with  the  brilliant  chance  that  the  situation  offered  of  war  of  view, 
and  conquest,  that  Cardinal  Fleury  had  again  to  yield  and 
against  his  better  judgment  to  declare  war.  The  War  of  the 
Austrian  Succession  involved  all  Europe  for  eight  years, 
as  we  have  seen,  but  when  it  was  closed  by  the  Peace  of 
Aix-la-Chapelle  (1748),  France  recognized  Maria  Theresa 
as  heir  of  the  Hapsburg  dominions,  and  withdrew  from 
Germany  without  a  gain. 


336  England  and  France 

The  rivalry  As  wc  approach  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  it 

England?  "  becomes  plain  that  the  struggle  which  Louis  XIV.  in- 
augurated, with  the  object  of  making  France  supreme  in 
Europe,  had  ended  in  failure.  The  remedy  which  William 
III.  of  England  had  proposed  in  order  to  meet  this  aspi- 
ration—the alliance,  namely,  of  England,  the  Dutch,  and 
Austria — had  produced  the  desired  effect,  and  the  Continent 
could  at  last  afford  to  forget  its  terror  of  the  French  name, 
for  the  French  armies  had  been  defeated  and  French  ag- 
gression hurled  back.  But  in  spite  of  disasters  on  the  Con- 
tinent, and  perhaps  because  of  them,  French  colonial  ex- 
pansion went  on  through  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.,  and  in 
North  America  and  India  was  entering  into  ever  sharper 
rivalry  with  England.  Plainly  the  aim  of  the  French  was 
to  compensate  themselves  for  the  failure  of  their  European 
plans  by  the  acquisition  of  an  empire  beyond  the  seas.  The 
plan  was  natural  enough,  but,  unfortunately,  came  in  conflict 
with  a  similar  purpose  of  the  English.  Accordingly,  with 
the  progress  of  the  century  the  gaze  of  Frenchmen  and 
Englishmen  turned  across  the  seas,  and  slowly  the  centre  of 
interest,  which  in  the  long  struggle  of  France  for  supremacy 
in  Europe  had  been  the  Continent,  shifted  to  the  colonies. 
England  and  Such   change   of  interest   necessarily   involved   a   subtle 

go^ve'^iTart-^         change  of  international  relationships  in  Europe.     In  meas- 
nership.  ^^g  ^^  France  withdrew  from  her  aggression  against  her 

continental  neighbors,  she  conciliated  her  ancient  enemies, 
Austria  and  the  Dutch;  and  in  measure  as  she  emphasized 
her  colonial  ambition,  she  aroused  the  increased  hostility 
of  England.  Thus,  by  the  gradual  operation  of  circum- 
stances, England  and  France  had,  toward  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  been  brought  face  to  face  to  fight  out 
the  great  question  of  supremacy  in  the  colonial  world;  and 
in  this  colonial  question  Austria,  the  old  ally  of  England 
against  France,  had  no  immediate  interest.     Was  Austria 


In  the  Eighteenth  Cetitury 


337 


or  any  other  continental  power  likely,  under  the  circum- 
stances, to  take  part  in  the  war? 

The  war  between  France  and  England  which  followed, 
called  the  Seven  Years'  War  (1756-63),  is  properly  the  most 
important  struggle  of  the  ceniury,  for  it  determined  whether 
America  and  India  were  to  be  French  or  English.  But 
though  the  other  European  powers  had  no  direct  interest  in 
the  colonial  question,  they  nevertheless  participated  in  the 
Seven  Years'  War.  That  was  owing  to  the  circumstance 
that  the  German  powers,  Austria  and  Prussia,  had  a  quarrel 
of  their  own  to  settle,  and  that  by  choosing  sides  in  the 
French-English  conflict,  Prussia  allying  herself  with  England 
and  Austria  with  France,  they  brought  about  a  fusion  of 
two  distinct  issues  in  a  general  war. 

France  mr^de  great  sacrifices  in  the  Seven  Years'  War  to 
•naintain  her  position.  She  sent  an  army  over  the  Rhine  to 
cooperate  with  the  Austrians  against  the  Prussians  and  the 
English,  and  she  prepared  to  defend  herself  in  America,  in 
India,  and  on  the  sea.  Unfortunately,  she  was  governed  by 
an  ignorant  and  vicious  king,  who  was  too  feeble  to  persist 
in  any  policy,  and  who  was  no  better  than  the  puppet  of  a 
company  of  worthless  courtiers  and  favorites.  The  real  di- 
rection of  French  aflairs  during  the  war  lay  in  the  hands  of 
the  king's  mistress,  Madame  de  Pompadour,  who  never 
had  an  inkling  of  the  real  significance  of  the  struggle. 

While  government  was  thus  travestied  in  France,  the 
power  in  England  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  capable  and 
fiery  William  Pitt,  known  in  history  as  the  Great  Com- 
moner. His  ministry  lasted  four  memorable  years  (1757- 
61),  during  which  time  he  organized  the  resources  of  the 
country  as  no  one  had  ever  organized  them  before.  Fleets 
and  arU/ies  were  sent  forth  under  the  stimulus  of  the  proud 
(ionvicaon  that  now  or  never  England  must  establish  her 
«Bk»F.Hi?    supremacy.     Under    these    circumstances    victory 


Prussia  sides 
with  England 
Austria  with 
France. 


The  Seven 
Yeara'  War, 

1756-63. 


Pitt,  captaia 
of  England. 


338  England  and  France 

necessarily  fell  to  the  English.  The  French  army  in  Ger- 
many was  badly  beaten  by  Frederick  the  Great  at  Rossbach 
(1757),  and  later  held  in  effective  check  by  an  Anglo-Han- 
overian force  under  Ferdinand  of  Brunswick.  But  the  most 
signal  advantages  of  the  English  were  won,  as  Pitt  intendedj 
not  in  Europe  but  on  the  sea  and  in  the  colonies.  Firstj 
the  French  were  driven  from  the  basin  of  the  Ohio  (1758).^ 
In  the  next  year  Wolfe's  heroic  capture  of  Quebec  secured 
the  course  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  therewith  completed  the 
conquest  of  Canada.  Furthermore,  in  India  the  celebrated 
Lord  Clive  (victory  of  Plassey,  1757)  crowded  out  the  French 
and  established  the  English  influence,  while  the  great  mar- 
itime victories  (1759)  of  Lagos  and  Quiberon  annihilated  the 
French  fleet  and  gave  England  absolute  control  of  the  sea. 
George  ITI.,  In  the  year  1760,  while  the  war  was  at  its  height,  George 

1700-1820.  jj  ^vt^^  and  was  succeeded  by  his  grandson,  George  III. 
(1760-1820).  George  III.  had  one  leading  idea,  which  was 
to  regain  for  himself  the  place  in  the  government  recently 
usurped  by  the  Parliament.  So  completely  was  he  taken 
up  with  this  plan  that  the  war  had  only  a  secondary  in- 
terest for  him.  He  therefore  took  advantage  of  a  division 
in  the  cabinet  to  dismiss  Pitt,  who  was  identified  with  the 
war,  from  office  (1761),  and  hotly  supported  Lord  Bute,  who 
succeeded  to  Pitt's  position,  in  his  efforts  for  peace.  Al- 
though the  English  negotiators,  in  their  haste  to  have  done, 
sacrificed  some  important  English  interests,  the  victories  of 
Peace  of  Paris,  Pitt  spoke  for  themselves.  By  the  Peace  of  Paris  (February 
^^^^"  10,  1763)  England  acquired  from  France  Canada  and  the 

territory  east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  received  the  rec- 
ognition of  her  exclusive  domination  in  India. 

'  The  French  had  claimed  the  whole  Mississippi  basin,  and  in  order  to 
shut  out  the  English  they  had  built  a  fort  on  the  upper  Ohio.  In  1755 
General  Braddock  was  sent  out  to  destroy  the  French  fort,  but  refusing  to 
be  guided  by  the  advice  of  the  Virginian  officer,  George  Washington, 
was  badly  beaten.  When  the  French  fort  was  finally  taken,  it  was 
rebaptized  Pittsburg,  in  honor  of  England's  great  minister. 


hi  the  Eighteenth  Century  339 

If  the  Seven  Years'  War  is  England's  greatest  triumph,  The  American 
she  was  visited  soon  afterward  with  her  severest  calamity,  jy*^^  ' 
In  the  year  1765  the  British  Parliament  levied  a  tax  upon 
the  American  colonies  called  the  Stamp  Act.  When  it  be- 
came known  that  the  tax  aroused  discontent,  it  was  wisely 
withdrawn;  but  at  the  same  time  the  principle  was  asserted 
and  proclaimed  that  the  British  Parliament  had  the  right  to 
tax  the  colonies.  As  the  Americans  would  not  agree  that 
they  could  be  taxed  by  a  body  in  which  they  were  not  rep- 
resented, friction  grew  apace  and  soon  led  to  mob  violence. 
The  British  ministry,  which  was  under  the  influence  of  an 
ambitious  and  obstinate  king,  resorted  to  military  force, 
and  the  answer  of  the  Americans  to  this  measure  was  the 
resolution  to  revolt  (Declaration  of  Independence,  July  4, 
1776).  In  1778  the  colonists,  through  their  agent,  Benja- 
min Franklin,  made  an  alliance  with  France,  and  from  this 
time  on  the  English  were  hard  pressed  by  land  and  sea. 
Finally,  the  surrender  of  Yorktown  (1781)  to  the  American 
hero  of  the  war,  George  Washington,  disposed  the  mother- 
country  to  peace.  In  the  Peace  of  Versailles  (1783)  Eng-  The  Peace  of 
land  made  France  a  few  unimportant  colonial  concessions,  vf"^''!^' 
but  the  really  memorable  feature  of  the  peace  was  the  rec- 
ognition of  the  independence  of  the  revolted  English  colonies 
under  the  name  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

This  American  success  revived  political  agitation  in  Ire-  Ireland  gets 
land.     We  have  seen  how  after  the  battle  of  the  Boyne  onirto  hav^c  it 
(1690)  the  Irish  were  literally  trampled  in  the  dust.     The  withdrawn, 
loss  of  their  land  and  the  proscription  of  their  faith  were  not 
their  only  miseries,  for  they  were  continually  exposed  to  the 
insults  of  a  minority  of  Protestant  settlers,  who  ruled  the 
island  by  means  of  a  misnamed  Irish  Parliament.     But  even 
this  Protestant  assembly,  from  which  the  Catholic  majority 
was  rigorously  excluded,  enjoyed  no   independence,  since 
it  could  pass  no  act  of  which  the  British  Privy  Council  at 


340  England  and  France 

London  did  not  approve.  A  movement  was  now  set  on  foot 
to  free  the  local  legislature  from  the  hateful  English  super- 
vision; and  the  British  ministry',  frightened  by  the  Ameri- 
can situation,  so  far  yielded  as  to  pass  an  act  in  favor  of 
Irish  Legislative  Independence  (1782).  Unfortunately,  the 
island  was  not  pacified  by  this  concession,  for  the  religious 
animosities  existing  between  the  Catholic  natives  and  the 
Protestant  colonists  blazed  out  in  civil  war.  Riot,  blood- 
shed, and  massacre  prevailed  until  the  younger  Pitt,  son  of 
the  Great  Commoner  and  Prime  Minister  of  England,  passed 
(1800)  an  Act  of  Union,  which  not  only  abolished  the  legis- 
lative independence  lately  granted,  but  suppressed  the  Irish 
Parliament  altogether  by  incorporating  it  with  the  British 
Parliament  at  London.  Since  1800  Ireland  has  been  ruled 
in  all  respects  from  the  English  capital. 

The  Act  of  Union  did  not  greatly  occupy  the  public  mind. 
For  when  it  was  passed,  the  French  Revolution,  though  it 
had  occupied  the  stage  for  more  than  a  decade,  was  still 
holding  the  attention  of  England  and  all  the  world  riveted 
upon  it. 


PART    III 
REVOLUTION   AND    DEMOCRACY 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE   FRENCH   REVOLUTION    (1789-1815) 

References:  H.  Morse  Stephens,  Revolutionary  Europe, 
1789-1815;  Rose,  The  Revolutionary  and  Napoleonic 
Era,  1789-1815;  H.  Morse  Stephens, The  French  Rev- 
olution, 3  vols.;  Lowell,  Eve  of  the  French  Revolution 
(good  review  of  prerevolutionary  France) ;  De  Tocque- 
viLLE,  France  before  the  Revolution  (brilliant) ;  Taine, 
The  Ancient  Regime;  also.  The  French  Revolution: 
also.  The  Modern  Regime  (critical  works,  full  of  matter, 
but  prejudiced  against  the  Revolution) ;  Von  Sybel,  The 
French  Revolution  (powerful  treatment,  with  emphasis 
on  Europe  in  its  relation  to  the  Revolution) ;  Cambridge 
Modern  History,  Vols.  VHI.  and  IX.  (embodying  re- 
cent scientific  results);  H.  von  Holst,  The  French  Rev- 
olution; Carlyle,  The  French  Revolution  (not  so  much 
history  as  a  great  epic  poem;  use  Fletcher's  edition  with 
notes);  Shailer  Mathews,  The  French  Revolution  (a 
rapid  review) ;  Fyffe,  History  of  Modern  Europe  (pop- 
ular edition),  Chapters  I.-XII.;  Seeley,  Life  and  Times 
of  Stein;  Say,  Turgot;  Morley, Voltaire,  also  Rousseau, 
also  Diderot;  Belloc,  Danton,  also  Robespierre;  Wil- 
LERT,  Mirabeau;  Henderson,  History  of  Germany, 
Vol.  II.,  Chapters  VI.-VIL;  Johnston,  Napoleon,  a 
Short  Biography;  Fournier,  Napoleon  the  First; 
Sloane,  Napoleon  Bonaparte;  Seeley,  Short  History 
of  Napoleon;  Rose,  Life  of  Napoleon  I.,  2  vols.;  Rose- 
bery.  Napoleon:  The  Last  Phase;  Mahan,  Influence 
of  Sea  Power  upon  the  French  Revolution  (1793-1812). 

Source  Readings  :  Translations  and  Reprints, University 
of  Pennsylvania,  Vol.  I.,  No.  5  (Rights  of  Man,  Jacobin 
Club,  etc.);  Vol.  II.,  No.  2  (documents  mainly  relating 

343 


344 


The  French  Revolution 


The  condition 
of  France  at 
the  end  of  the 
eighteenth 
century. 


Decay  due  to 
system  of 
government. 


to  Napoleon);  Vol.  IV.,  No.  5  (throws  light  on  ancient 
regime);  Vol.  V.,  No.  2  (protest  of  the  cour  des  aides^ 
revealing  abuses);  Vol.  VI.,  No.  i  (French  philoso- 
phers of  the  eighteenth  century) ;  Robinson,  Readings, 
Vol.  II.,  Chapter  XXXIV.  (prerevolutionary  France); 
Chapters  XXXV.,  XXXVI.  (the  Revolution);  Chapters 
XXXVII. ,  XXXVIII.  (Napoleon);  Anderson,  Consti- 
tutions and  Documents  Illustrative  of  the  History  of 
France,  Nos.  i-ioo  (indispensable  for  the  close  stu- 
dent); Young,  Travels  in  France,  1787-89  (an  Eng- 
lish gentleman's  observations);  Hazen,  Contemporary 
American  Opinion  of  the  French  Revolution;  BouR- 
rienne,  Memoirs  of  Napoleon  (interesting,  not  always 
reliable),  4  vols.;  Madame  de  R^musat,  Memoirs  (rich 
material,  charming  treatment),  3  vols.;  Napoleon, 
Letters  to  Josephine,  1796-1812. 

If  the  seventeenth  century,  which  recalls  the  names  of 
Richelieu,  Colbert,  and  Louis  XIV.,  was  the  period  of  the 
expansion  of  France,  the  eighteenth  century,  associated  with 
such  names  as  the  regent  Orleans,  Louis  XV.,  and  Madame 
de  Pompadour,  proved  the  period  of  French  decay.  We 
have  just  seen  that  the  Seven  Years'  War  all  but  completed 
the  ruin  of  the  kingdom;  the  defeats  of  the  armies  of  France 
in  Germany  destroyed  her  military  prestige,  and  her  mari- 
time disasters  overthrew  her  naval  power  and  deprived  her 
of  her  colonies.  But  the  loss  of  her  great  position  was  not 
the  worst  consequence  of  the  Seven  Years'  War.  The  coun- 
try found  itself  on  the  conclusion  of  the  Peace  of  Paris  (1763) 
in  such  a  condition  of  exhaustion  that  even  patriots  were 
doubtful  if  it  would  ever  recover  health  and  strength. 

The  case,  at  first  sight,  seemed  anomalous.  Here  was  a 
country  which  in  point  of  natural  resources  had  the  advan- 
tage over  every  other  country  of  Europe;  its  population, 
which  was  estimated  at  25,000,000,  was  greater  than  that  of 
any  rival  state;  and  the  mass  of  the  nation  had  no  cause  to 
fear  comparison  with  any  other  people  as  regards  industry, 


The  French  Revolution  345 

thrift,  and  intelligence.  If  this  people,  endowed  with  such 
natural  gifts  and  inhabiting  so  fertile  a  territory,  was  brought 
in  the  second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  to  the  verge  of 
ruin,  that  circumstance  cannot  be  ascribed  to  any  inherent 
defect  in  the  nation.  It  was  due  solely  to  the  system  of  gov- 
ernment which  bound  the  nation  together,  and  to  the  social 
iniquities  which  that  government  perpetuated. 

The  reader  has  seen  how  the  French  king  had  gradually  The  king  is 
absorbed  all  the  functions  of  government,  until,  as  Louis 
XIV.  himself  had  boasted,  the  king  had  become  the  state. 
The  local  administration,  once  the  prerogative  of  the  nobility, 
had,  with  the  overthrow  of  the  nobility  by  Richelieu,  been 
transferred  to  royal  appointees,  called  intendants;  the  feudal 
assembly,  or  States-General,  was  no  longer  summoned;  and 
whenever  the  supreme  law-courts  of  the  realm,  known  as 
Parliaments  (parletnents) ,  tried,  by  refusing  to  register  a 
decree,  to  exercise  the  small  measure  of  power  which  they 
possessed,  the  king  cowed  them  by  a  royal  session,  called 
lit  de  justice.  In  an  address  delivered  on  the  occasion  of 
such  a  lit  de  justice  (1766),  Louis  XV.  could,  without  fear  of 
contradiction,  make  the  following  assertion  concerning  the 
royal  prerogative:  "In  my  person  resides  the  sovereign 
authority.  I  hold  the  legislative  power  and  share  it  with 
no  one.  The  entire  pubHc  life  is  sustained  by  me."  Part 
and  parcel  of  this  limitless  claim  was  the  power  of  arbitrary 
arrest  under  a  lettre  de  cachet.  This  was  an  order  signed  by 
the  king  by  virtue  of  which  any  subject  might  be  clapped 
into  prison  and  kept  there  without  a  trial  at  the  king's 
pleasure. 

It  is  plain  that  such  extensive  duties  as  are  contained  in   Louis  XV. 
the  pronouncement  quoted  above  could  be  effectively  ex-  hfs^duties. 
ercised  by  only  a  superior  person.     Louis  XIV.  never  failed 
at  least  in  assiduity.     But  his  successor,  Louis  XV.,  who 
was   weak,    frivolous,   and   incapable   of   sustained   work, 


346 


TJic  French  Revolution 


French  society. 
The  clergy 
and  nobility. 


shirked  the  exercise  of  the  powers  which  he  none  the  less 
claimed  as  his  due.  Instead  of  laboring  in  his  cabinet,  he 
allowed  his  time  to  be  monopolized  by  hunts  and  spectacles, 
and  his  vitality  to  be  consumed  by  boundless  dissipations. 
The  result  was  that  the  business  of  governing  fell  to  a  greedy 
horde  of  courtiers  and  adventuresses,  who  were  principally 
concerned  with  fattening  their  fortunes,  and  who  sacrificed, 
with  no  more  regret  than  is  expressed  by  a  shrug  of  the 
shoulders  and  a  laugh,  every  interest  of  the  state. 

If  under  Louis  XV.  the  centralized  monarchy  lost  its 
respect  abroad  and  its  energy  at  home,  the  whole  social 
fabric  which  that  monarchy  crowned  exhibited  no  less  certain 
signs  of  disease  and  decay.  French  society,  like  that  of  all 
Europe,  had  its  starting-point  in  the  feudal  principle  of  class. 
In  feudal  times  there  had  been  recognized  two  great  govern- 
ing classes,  the  clergy  and  the  nobility,  which,  in  return  for 
certain  fundamental  services  rendered  by  them  to  society, 
such  as  instruction,  spiritual  comfort,  administration  of 
justice,  and  defence  of  the  soil,  had  been  granted  an  au- 
thoritative and  patriarchal  position  over  the  people.  The 
absolute  monarchy  of  France  had,  to  a  greater  extent  than 
the  monarchy  of  any  other  country,  relieved  the  nobles  of 
their  duties  by  taking  upon  itself  the  administration  of 
justice  and  the  maintenance  of  the  army.  But  though  the 
nobility  was  thus  deprived  of  its  former  duties,  it  was  left 
in  possession  of  many  of  its  ancient  rights.  To  illustrate: 
it  was  not  subjected  to  direct  taxation  in  feudal  times  on 
the  ground  that  it  paid  taxes  in  the  form  of  military  service;! 
but  now,  though  this  service  was  no  longer  required,  the  ex- 
emption from  taxation  continued.  Consequently,  a  right 
originally  grounded  in  justice  had  become  an  iniquity.  The 
other  feudal  order,  the  clergy,  enjoyed  a  similar  exemption 
from  taxation,  but  still  performed,  however  imperfectly,  its 
former  services. 


The  FrencJi  Revolution  347 

We  are  now  in  a  position  to  understand  why  the  France   Clergy  and 
of  the  eighteenth  century  was  divided  into  privileged  and  stitut'ethe 
unprivileged  classes,  or  into  subjects  who  paid  and  subjects  o^de's 
who  did  not  pay.     Such  a  division  was  abominable,  but 
made  only  the  beginning  of  the  woeful  tale  of  confirmed  and 
hereditary  injustice.     Not  only  had  the  feudal  orders  become 
mere  privileged  orders,  who  did  not  contribute  to  the  support 
of  the  government  in  a  measure  even  approximately  pro- 
portionate to  their  resources,  but  all  the  honors  and  emolu- 
ments were  reserved  to  them.     The  officers  of  the  army, 
which  the  money  of  the  commoners  supported,  were  chosen 
exclusively  from  the  nobility,  and  all  the  high  and  remuner 
ative  posts  in  Church  and  state  were  open  only  to  that  class 
In  a  word,  a  public  career  in  France  was  an  affair  of  birth. 

The  membership  of  the  two  orders  enjoying  these  ex-  The  resources 
tensive  privileges  was  not  very  large.  The  noble  families  Wed.^'^'^'" 
numbered  25,000  to  30,000,  with  an  aggregate  membership 
of  perhaps  140,000;  and  the  clergy,  including  the  various 
religious  orders  and  the  parish  priests,  had  an  approximately 
equal  enrolment.  These  two  castes  between  them  owned 
about  half  the  land  of  France,  so  that  it  could  be  fairly 
claimed  by  the  indignant  people  that  the  principle  of  taxa- 
tion which  obtained  in  their  country  was — to  relieve  those 
who  did  not  need  relief,  and  to  burden  those  who  were 
already  overburdened. 

But  if  nobility  and  clergy  were,  comparatively  speaking,  Theirstyle 
very  well  off,  their  means  were  not  sufficient  to  satisfy  the 
demands  which  their  style  of  life  made  upon  their  purses. 
The  great  nobles  all  maintained  palaces  at  Paris  or  Ver- 
sailles, where  they  ruined  themselves  by  lavish  entertain- 
ments, gambling,  and  the  various  excitements  of  an  idle 
society.  The  great  Church  dignitaries,  bishops  and  abbots, 
who  were,  for  the  most  part,  younger  sons  of  noble  families, 
emulated,  and  if  anything  outshone,  the  secular  nobility  by 


le 

of  life. 


348 


The  French  Revolution 


The  upper 
and  the  lower 
clergy. 


Progress  of  the 
commoners. 


the  splendor  of  their  mode  of  life.  The  result  was  that  the 
court  swarmed  with  a  bankrupt  aristocracy  whose  one  hope 
of  salvation  was  to  plunder  the  public  treasury  under  the 
polite  form  of  an  office  or  a  pension  granted  by  the  king. 
These  pensions,  running  up  into  the  millions,  and  lavished 
upon  creatures  whose  only  merit  was,  as  a  contemporary 
writer  put  it,  "to  have  taken  the  trouble  to  be  born,"  were 
a  sore  affliction  of  the  budget,  and  the  least  excusable  factor 
contributing  to  the  annual  deficit. 

There  is  no  need  to  say  that  prelates  who  recruited  their 
ranks  from  the  nobility,  and  like  the  nobility  spent  their 
days  in  hunting,  gambling,  and  paying  visits,  were  not  suited 
to  discharge  their  spiritual  functions.  But  it  would  be  a 
mistake  to  suppose  that  the  careless  life  of  the  higher  clergy 
was  the  rule  among  the  rank  and  file.  In  the  provinces  there 
were  to  be  found  priests,  on  starvation  salaries,  who  devoted 
themselves  to  their  parish  duties  with  mediaeval  fervor  and 
sincerity.  These  hardly  felt  that  there  was  any  bond  be- 
tween them  and  their  noble  superiors,  while  a  thousand  ties 
united  them  to  the  people  from  whom  they  were  sprung.  A 
notable  consequence  of  this  fact  was  that  when  the  Revolu- 
tion broke  out  the  lower  clergy  sided  with  the  down-trodden 
and  outraged  commoners  against  the  privileged  hierarchy. 

The  commoners,  or  members  of  the  Third  Estate  {tiers 
etat),  who  were  shut  out  from  the  places  of  authority  reserved 
to  the  first  two  estates  of  the  realm,  could  win  distinction  in 
only  two  careers,  business  and  literature.  Many  succeeded 
in  accumulating  wealth  both  in  Paris  and  in  the  provinces, 
until  their  resources,  constantly  increased  through  thrift  and 
hard  work,  far  exceeded  those  of  the  nobility,  who,  after  the 
airy  fashion  of  their  kind,  concerned  themselves  only  with 
elegantly  spending  what  they  had  or  could  borrow.  And 
now  the  bourgeoisie  began  to  outstrip  the  nobility  in  other 
respects.     For  increase  of  wealth  brought  increase  of  leisure, 


The  French  Revolution  349 

and  put  at  the  disposal  of  the  middle  classes  the  means  of 
culture.  So  it  came  about  that  in  the  course  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century  the  Third  Estate  had  fairly  become  the  in- 
tellectual hearth  of  France.  For  proof  one  need  look  only 
at  the  influential  authors  and  journalists  of  the  period,  such 
as  Voltaire,  Rousseau,  Diderot,  Quesnay,  Bcaumarchais — 
they  are  almost  without  exception  of  the  middle  class. 

But  if  the  well-to-do  middle  class,  the  bourgeoisie,  "was  Misery  of  the 
prospering,  the  same  can  hardly  be  said  of  the  vast  ma-  ^°^  *"^™ 
jority  of  French  subjects,  embracing  the  two  classes  of  the 
urban  wage-earners  and  the  peasants.  The  class  of  wage- 
earners  was  to  a  large  extent  of  recent  origin,  having  been 
called  into  existence  by  the  development  of  manufactures. 
Uneducated  and  unorganized,  they  were  completely  under  the 
heel  of  the  capitalist  middle  class,  which  controlled  the  com- 
mercial and  industrial  situation  by  means  of  its  guilds,  and 
shut  all  but  old  bourgeois  families  out  of  them  with  as  much 
zeal  as  the  nobles  displayed  in  keeping  their  ranks  free  from 
the  defilement  of  citizen  upstarts.  With  reference  to  the 
wage-earners,  the  middle  class  was,  in  its  turn,  a  privileged 
order,  and  we  can  easily  understand  that  the  oppression  with 
which  the  bourgeoisie  saddled  the  laborers  was  filling  that 
body  with  increasing  discontent. 

But  the  class  of  which  the  condition  was  most  abject  was,  Misery  of  tht 
undoubtedly,  the  peasants,  whose  obligations  and  burdens  P^^^  • 
exceeded  all  justice  and  reason.  1  he  lord  of  the  manor  ex- 
acted rent  from  them,  the  Church  levied  tithes,  and  the  king 
collected  taxes  almost  at  will,  so  that  often  they  did  not  have- 
enough  left  over  from  their  toil  to  satisfy  the  barest  neces- 
sities. Considerable  sections  of  the  soil  of  France  had. 
therefore,  in  the  course  of  the  last  few  decades  been  deserted 
by  the  peasants,  and  in  some  of  the  most  fertile  regions  fam- 
ine had  become  an  annual  guest.  An  English  gentleman, 
Arthur  Young,  who  made  a  journey  through  France  just 


350 


The  French  Revolution 


Feudal  obli- 
gations. 


The  demand 
for  reform. 


The  intel- 
lectual revolt. 


before  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution,  saw  many  smiling 
districts,  but  was  frequently  horrified  by  the  bent,  starved, 
and  diseased  figures  which  he  encountered  on  the  highways. 
The  misery  of  the  peasants,  although  real,  has  been  fre- 
quently exaggerated  by  comparison  with  modern  conditions. 
If  we  examine  their  status  in  the  light  of  eighteenth-century 
standards,  we  are  obliged  to  admit  that  they  were  better 
off  than  their  brethren  of  the  other  continental  countries. 
Above  all,  the  French  peasants  were  no  longer  serf^,  although 
the  memory  of  their  former  serfdom  survived  in  certain 
vexatious  feudal  obligations,  such  as  the  corvee,  a  compul- 
sory service  of  a  certain  number  of  days  each  year  upon  the 
roads,  and  the  right  of  the  chase  which  reserved  the  game 
to  the  nobility.  The  very  fact  that  they  were  free,  and 
relatively  prosperous  and  enlightened,  explains  why  their 
protest  against  irrational  and  irritating  dues  was  growing 
constantly  more  vigorous. 

A  government  without  power,  dignity,  and  character;  a  so- 
ciety broken  up  into  mutually  hostile  classes— these  are  the 
main  features  of  the  picture  we  have  just  examined.  French 
public  life  in  the  eighteenth  century  had  become  so  intol- 
erable that  its  dissolution  was  the  only  possible  escape  out 
of  the  perennial  misery.  This  the  thinking  element  began 
to  see  more  and  more  clearly;  and  a  school  of  writers,  known 
as  the  philosophers,  made  themselves  its  mouthpiece,  and 
clamored  loudly  and  ever  more  loudly  for  a  radical  reform 
of  the  existing  order. 

The  eighteenth  century  is  everywhere  in  Europe  a  century 
of  criticism.  Men  had  begun  to  overhaul  the  whole  body 
of  tradition  in  state.  Church,  and  society,  and  to  examine 
their  institutional  inheritances  from  the  point  of  view  of  com- 
mon-sense. If  things  had  been  allowed  to  stand  hitherto 
because  they  were  indorsed  by  the  past,  they  were  to  be  per- 
mitted henceforth  only  because  they  were  serviceable  and 


The  French  Revolution  351 


necessary  to  the  present.  Reason,  in  other  words,  was  to 
be  the  rule  of  life.  This  gospel  the  philosophers  spread 
from  end  to  end  of  Europe.  They  opened  fire  upon  every- 
thing that  ran  counter  to  reason  and  science — upon  the  in- 
tolerance of  the  Church,  upon  the  privileges  of  the  nobility, 
upon  the  abuse  of  the  royal  power,  upon  the  viciousness  of 
criminal  justice,  upon  the  oppression  of  the  peasantry,  and 
a  hundred  other  things. 

Although  the  revolt  against  the  inheritances  of  a  feudal  The  leaders 
past  was  universal  in  the  eighteenth  century,  the  leaders  in 
the  movement  were  Frenchmen.  Montesquieu,  Diderot, 
D'Alembert,  are  some  of  the  brilliant  writers  of  the  period; 
but  outshining  them  in  fame  and  achievement  are  Voltaire 
and  Rousseau.  Although  their  names  are  commonly 
coupled,  it  is  impossible  to  imagine  two  men  less  alike.  Vol- 
taire 1  was  a  man  of  swift  intelligence,  caustic  wit,  and, 
above  all,  a  penetrating  understanding  of  human  society, 
while  Rousseau  was  a  dreamer,  who  shut  his  eyes  upon  an 
artificial  and  repulsive  civilization  in  order  to  fashion  with 
his  mind  a  society  founded  upon  justice,  goodness,  liberty, 
and  equality.  Each  set  in  motion  a  current  of  revolt  which 
gradually  undermined  the  existing  Church,  government,  and 
society,  and  left  them  standing  as  a  hollow  shell,  to  fall,  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution,  like  the  walls  of  Jericho  at 
the  first  blast  of  the  trumpet. 

A  society  which  has  become   thoroughly  discredited  in  The  chronic 
the  minds  of  those  who  compose  it,  is  likely  to  go  to  pieces     '^  "'" 
at  any  moment  and  through  any  chance  occasion.     The 
agency  which  directly  led  up  to  the  French  Revolution,  and 
sounded  the  signal,  as  it  were,  for  the  dissolution  of  the 

'  Voltaire  (1694-1778)  wrote  tragedies,  epics,  tales,  and  other  pieces  of 
pure  literature,  but  is  now  chiefly  remembered  by  his  historical  labors, 
such  as  The  Age  of  Louis  XIV.,  The  Age  of  Louis  XV.,  and  the  Essay 
on  Manners.  Rousseau  (1712-78)  wrote  one  novel.  La  Nouvelle  Heloise, 
but  his  most  famous  productions  are  a  treatise  on  government,  called  The 
Social  Contract,  and  a  wonderful  autobiography.  The  Confessions. 


352 


Tlie  Fre7icJi  Revolution 


Louis  XVI. 
succeeds  his 
grandfather 
in  1774. 


Louis  XVI. 

attempts 

reform. 


ancien  regime,  was  the  state  of  the  finances.  The  debts 
of  Louis  XIV.  had  been  increased  by  the  wars  and  extrav- 
agances of  Louis  XV.,  so  that  by  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  France  was  confronted  by  a  chronic  deficit.  As 
long  as  Louis  XV.  reigned  (1715-74),  the  deficit  was  covered 
by  fresh  loans,  a  device  which,  though  dangerous,  did  not 
arouse  any  apprehension  in  that  monarch's  feeble  mind. 
"Things  will  hold  together  till  my  death,"  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  saying  complacently,  and  his  friend  Madame  de 
Pompadour  added,  with  an  air  of  indifiference.  "After  us, 
the  deluge! " 

When  Louis  XVI.  (1774-92)  succeeded  his  grandfather, 
the  question  of  financial  reform  would  not  brook  any  further 
delay.  The  new  king  was,  at  his  accession,  only  twenty 
years  old.  He  was  honestly  desirous  of  helping  his  people, 
but  he  had,  unfortunately,  neither  the  energy  nor  the  in- 
telligence necessary  for  developing  a  programme  and  carry- 
ing it  through  in  spite  of  opposition.  His  queen,  Marie 
Antoinette,  the  daughter  of  Maria  Theresa  of  Austria,  was 
a  gossamer  creature,  lovely  and  vivacious,  but  young,  inex- 
perienced, and  utterly  thoughtless. 

The  fifteen  years  from  Louis's  accession  to  the  outbrea'k 
of  the  Revolution  (1774-89)  constitute  a  period  of  unin- 
termitted  struggle  with  the  financial  distress.  The  question 
was  how  to  make  the  revenues  meet  the  expenditures.  New 
taxes  proved  no  solution,  for  excessive  taxation  had  already 
reduced  the  country  to  starvation,  and  where  there  was 
nothing  to  begin  with,  no  tax-gatherer's  art  could  squeeze 
out  a  return.  Plainly,  the  only  feasible  solution  was  reform. 
The  lavish  expenditure  of  the  court  would  have  to  be  cut 
down;  the  waste  and  peculation  in  the  administration  would 
have  to  cease;  and  the  taxes  would  have  to  be  redistributed, 
so  as  to  put  the  burdens  upon  the  shoulders  that  could  beat 
them.     For  the  consideration  of  these  matters  Louis  at  firsi 


The  French  Revolution  353 

called  into  his  cabinet  a  number  of  eminent  men.  Among  Turgotand 
his  ministers  of  finance  were  the  economist  Turgot  (1774-76) 
and  the  banker  Necker  (first  ministry,  177S-81;  second 
ministry,  1788-90).  Both  men,  especially  Turgot,  who  was 
a  statesman  of  the  first  order,  labored  earnestly  at  reform, 
but  both  failed  to  overcome  the  opposition  of  the  courtiers, 
who  would  consent  neither  to  retrench  their  expenses  nor  to 
give  up  their  privileges. 

In  consequence,  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  continue  the  Absolutism 
old  ruinous  policy  of  covering  the  deficit  by  means  of  loans, 
and  by  persistence  in  this  insane  policy  to  undermine  the 
national  credit  and  march  helplessly  toward  bankruptcy. 
When  even  loans  were  no  longer  to  be  had,  the  king,  driven 
into  a  corner,  appealed,  as  a  last  resort,  to  the  nation.  The 
step  was  in  itself  a  revolution,  for  it  contained  the  admission 
that  the  absolute  monarchy  had  failed.  In  May,  1789, 
there  assembled  at  Versailles,  in  order  to  take  counsel  with 
the  king  about  the  national  distress,  the  States-General  of 
the  realm. 

The  States-General  was  the  old  feudal  assembly  of  France,  The  States- 
composed  of  the  three  orders,  the  clergy,  the  nobles,  and  the  '^^"'''^^• 
commoners.  As  the  States-General  had  been  relegated  to 
the  garret  by  the  absolute  monarchy  and  had  not  met  for 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five  years,  it  was  not  strange  that 
nobody  was  acquainted  with  its  mode  of  procedure.  So 
»jiuch  was  certain,  however,  that  the  assembly  had  formerly 
voted  by  orders,  and  that  the  vote  of  the  privileged  orders, 
being  two  against  one,  had  always  been  decisive. 

The  first  question  which  arose  in  the  assembly  was  whether  The  States- 
the  feudal  orders  should  be  allowed  this  traditional  supremacy  ^erts"  seff°"" 
in  th«:  revived  States-General.     Among  the  members  of  the   into  the  Na- 

tional  Assem- 

Tnrd  Estate,  as  the  commoners  were  called  in  France,  there   bly. 
was,  of  course,  only  one  answer.     These  men  held  that  the 
rev/  States-General  was  representative  not  of  the  old  feudai 


354 


TJie  French  Revolution 


realm,  but  of  the  united  nation,  and  that  every  member, 
therefore,  must  have  an  equal  vote.  In  other  words,  the 
commoners  maintained  that  the  vote  should  not  be  taken 
by  orders  but  individually.  As  they  had  been  permitted  to 
send  twice  as  many  delegates  (six  hundred)  as  either  clergy  or 
nobility  (three  hundred  each),  it  was  plain  that  their  propo- 
sition would  give  them  the  preponderance.  The  clergy  and 
nobility,  therefore,  offered  a  stubborn  resistance;  but  after 
a  month  of  contention  the  Third  Estate  cut  the  knot  by 
boldly  declaring  itself,  with  or  without  the  feudal  orders, 
the  National  Assembly  (June  17  th).  Horrified  by  this 
act  of  violence  the  king  and  the  court  tried  to  cow  the 
commoners  by  a  sharp  summons  to  submit  to  the  old  pro- 
cedure, but  when  they  refused  to  be  frightened,  the  king 
himself  gave  way,  and  ordered  the  clergy  and  nobility  to 
join  the  Third  Estate  (June  27th).  Thus,  at  the  very  begin- 
ning of  the  Revolution,  the  power  passed  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  king  and  feudal  orders  into  the  hands  of  the  people 


The  National 
Assembly  is 
generous,  in- 
telligent, but 
without  ex- 
perience. 


The  National  Assembly  (1789-91). 

The  National  Assembly,  which  thus  began  its  work  with 
the  avowed  purpose  of  regenerating  France,  was  composed 
of  the  most  intelligent  men  the  country  could  boast.  More- 
over the  members  were  animated  by  a  pure  enthusiasm  to 
serve  the  nation.  In  fact,  it  was  impossible  to  live  in  that 
momentous  year  of  1789  without  feeling  that  an  unexampled 
opportunity  had  arrived  for  helping  France  and  all  mankind 
forward  on  the  road  of  civilization.  In  this  magnanimous 
spirit  the  Assembly  directed  its  labors  from  the  first  day. 
Unfortunately,  a  fatal  defect  seriously  detracted  from  this 
generous  disposition.  The  Assembly,  composed  of  theorists 
totally  inexperienced  in  the  practical  affairs  of  government, 
was  prone  to  treat  all  questions  as  occasions  for  the  dis- 


The  French  Revolution  355 


play  of  an  emotional  eloquence,  and  to  formulate  decrees 
beautiful  in  the  abstract,  but  hopelessly  out  of  relation  to  the 
concrete  facts. 

When  the  Assembly  convened  there  existed  as  yet  no  po-   The  leaders. 
litical  parties.     But  gradually  parties  began  to  form  about 
the  men  who,  by  virtue  of  their  talents,  took  the  lead.     Only 
a  few  of  these  can  be  pointed  out  here.     The  Marquis  de 
Lafayette  had  won  a  great  name  for  himself  by  the  mag- 
nanimous offer  of  his  sword,  when  a  young  man,  to  the 
cause  of  freedom  in  America.     Though  a  nobleman  by  birth, 
he  sympathized  with  the  people  and  rallied  all  generous 
hearts  around  himself.     No  man  during  the  first  stage  of  the 
Revolution  had  a  greater  following  within  and  without  the 
Assembly.     The   best   representative   of   the   current   dog- 
matic and  philosophical  spirit  was  the  Abbe  Sieyes.     He 
carried  to  absurd  lengths  the  idea  that  government  was  a 
clever  mechanism,  capable  of  being  constructed  in  accord- 
ance with  preconceived  ideas.    When  one  constitution  failed, 
he  was   always  ready,   like  a  political  conjurer,  to  shake 
another  out  of  his  sleeve.     Then  there  was  the  lawyer  Robes- 
pierre.    His  circle,  though  not  large  at  first,  made  up  for  its 
smalhiess  by  the  stanchness  of  its  devotion  to  the  dapper 
little  man  who  made  it  his  business  to  parade  on  all  occa- 
sions a  patriotism  of  an   incorruptible  Roman  grandeur. 
But  the  member  who  rose  head  and  shoulders  above  the  rest 
of  the  Assembly  was  Count  Mirabeau.     Mirabeau  was  a 
born  statesman,  perhaps  the  only  man  in  the  whole  Assem- 
bly who  instinctively  knew  that  a  government  could  not  be 
fashioned  at  will  by  a  committee  of  philosophers,  but  to  be 
worth  anything  must  be  the  natural  outcome  of  the  moral, 
economic,  and  historical  forces  of  the  nation.     He  wished, 
therefore,  while  preserving  the  monarchy,  to  nalionalizt  it 
by  injecting  into  its  dry  arteries  the  fresh  blood  of  the  peo- 
ple.    Abolition  of  privileges  and  a  constitution  with  a  strong 


356 


The  French  Revolution 


Calamitous 
influence  of 
the  masses. 


Failure  of  the 
authority  of 
the  king  and 
the  Assembly. 


monarchical  element  were  the  two  leading  articles  of  his  pro- 
gramme. Unfortunately,  he  never  succeeded  in  acquiring 
a  guiding  influence.  In  the  first  place,  he  was  a  noble,  and 
therefore  subject  to  suspicion;  and,  further,  his  early  life 
had  been  a  succession  of  scandals,  which  now  rose  up 
and  bore  witness  against  him,  undermining  confidence  in 
his  honor. 

The  National  Assembly  had  no  hesitation  in  designating 
as  its  primary  business  the  making  of  a  free  constitution.^ 
It  was  of  the  highest  importance  that  this  work  should  be 
done  in  perfect  security,  free  from  the  interference  of  popu- 
lar passion  and  violence.  But,  owing  to  the  excitement  and 
fervor  which  permeated  all  classes,  the  Assembly  soon  fell 
under  the  domination  of  the  street.  The  growth  of  the  in- 
fluence of  the  lower  elements,  who,  while  desiring  reform, 
created  anarchy,  is  the  most  appalling  feature  of  the  great 
events  of  1789.  If  we  understand  this  fact,  we  have  the 
key  to  the  rapid  degeneration  of  what  was,  at  its  outset, 
perhaps  the  most  promising  movement  in  the  history  of 
mankind. 

For  this  degeneration  the  king  and  the  Assembly  were 
both  responsible,  as  well  by  reason  of  what  they  did  as  of 
what  they  did  not  do.  It  goes  without  saying  that  the  sud- 
den failure  of  absolutism  in  June,  1789,  demoralized  the 
government  and  threw  France  into  unutterable  confusion. 
Parisian  mobs  frequently  fell  upon  and  murdered  the  royal 
oflficials,  while  the  excited  peasants  everywhere  burned  and 
plundered  the  castles  of  the  nobles.  In  view  of  these  irreg- 
ularities, king  and  National  Assembly  should  have  united 
to  maintain  order;  but  unite  they  would  not,  because  the 
king,  who  was  under  the  domination  of  the  court,  distrusted 
the  popular  Assembly,  and  because  the  Assembly  feared  the 


'  For  this  reason  the  National  Assembly  is  known  also  as  the  Constituent 
Assembly. 


The  French  Revolution  357 


designs  of  the  court  and  the  king.     Mutual  suspicion  ruined 
harmony  and  played  into  the  hands  of  the  agitators. 

And,  in  fact,  early  in  July  it  was  discovered  that  the  court  The  fall  of  the 
was  plotting  to  dissolve  the  Assembly  and  overawe  the  Pa-  14^1789. 
risians  by  means  of  troops.  At  this  news  a  tremendous  ex- 
citement seized  the  people.  Armed  crowds  gathered  in  the 
streets,  and  clamorous  to  teach  the  court  a  lesson,  threw 
themselves  upon  the  Bastille,  the  ancient  state  prison  and 
royal  fortress  in  the  heart  of  Paris.  After  a  bloody  encoun- 
ter with  the  troops,  they  took  the  gloomy  stronghold,  and  in 
their  fury  razed  it  to  the  ground  (July  14th). 

The  fall  of  the  Bastille  was  celebrated  throughout  France  Expected  reign 
as  the  end  of  tyranny  and  the  dawn  of  a  new  era  of  broth-   equahty/and 
erly  love.     And  in  truth  there  was  much  suggestive  of  a  new  fraternity. 
order  of  things  in  the  destruction  of  a  monument  which  had 
been  the  witness  of  the  brutalities  of  mediaeval  justice,  and 
of  the  wanton  oppression  of  the  absolute  king.     Now  in- 
deed we  know  that  July  14th  did  not  inaugurate  a  reign  of  lib- 
erty, equality,  and  fraternity;  but  it  is  not  difficult  to  under- 
stand why  the  French  people,  cherishing  the  memory  of 
their  generous  illusion,  should  have  made  July  14th  their 
national  holiday. 

The  king  at  Versailles  did  not  misread  the  lesson  which  The 
the  episode  of  the  Bastille  pointed.  All  thought  of  violence  ^"^'^"^ 
was  temporarily  dropped,  and  the  irreconcilables  of  the  court 
party,  with  the  king's  brother,  the  count  of  Artois,  at  their 
head,  left  France  in  disgust.  Thus  began  the  so-called  emi- 
gration, which,  continuing  for  the  next  few  years,  soon  col- 
lected on  the  borders  of  France,  chiefly  along  the  Rhine, 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  the  old  privileged  classes,  who 
preferred  exile  to  the  threatened  ascendancy  of  popular 
government. 

The  storming  of  the  Bastille  promised  at  first  to  clarify  The  National 
the  situation.     Again  the  king  made  his  bow  to  the  Revo-  Lafayette. 


35^  The  French  Revolution 

lution:  he  paid  a  formal  visit  to  Paris  as  a  pledge  of  recon- 
ciliation, and  was  received  with  acclamations  of  joy.  The 
well-to-do  citizens  for  their  part  seemed  to  be  resolved  to 
have  done  with  violence  and  follow  the  way  of  sensible  re- 
form. They  organized  a  militia  called  the  National  Guard, 
in  order  to  secure  Paris  from  the  excesses  to  which  the  city 
had  lately  been  exposed,  and  made  the  popular  Lafayette 
commander.  However,  the  condition  of  the  capital  remained 
most  precarious.  The  multitude  of  the  idle  was  growing 
in  numbers  every  day,  and  their  misery,  which  the  general 
stoppage  of  business  steadily  sharpened,  was  pushing  them 
to  the  brink  of  savagery.  It  was  a  question  whether  Lafay- 
ette, with  his  citizen-guard,  would  be  willing  or  able  to  chain 
the  people  when  a  new  access  of  passion  lashed  them  into 
fury. 
Thecvenu  The  test  Came  soon  enough.     In  October  the  rumor  of 

5th  and  6^4  another  plot  on  the  part  of  the  remnant  of  the  court  party 
ran  through  Paris.  Excited  men  and  women  told  one  an- 
other that  at  a  banquet  of  officers,  held  at  Versailles,  the  new 
tricolor  cockade  of  red,  blue,  and  white,  the  passionately 
adored  emblem  of  the  Revolution,  had  been  trampled  under 
foot,  and  the  health  of  the  king  and  queen  drunk  amid 
scenes  of  wild  enthusiasm.  What  really  happened  was  an 
act  of  homage,  perhaps  unnecessarily  provocaf  ive,  on  the  part 
of  the  army  toward  its  sovereign;  but  suspicion  of  the  king 
and  court  had  sunk  so  deeply  into  the  hearts  of  the  Paris- 
ians that  every  disparagement  of  the  monarch,  however  un- 
founded, was  sure  to  find  an  audience.  Demagogues  an- 
nounced that  the  king  was  the  cause  of  the  famine  in  the 
city,  and  that  he  and  the  court  intercepted  the  grain-carts 
outside  of  Paris  in  order  to  reduce  the  patriots  to  starvation. 
On  the  morning  of  October  5th,  10,000  women,  fierce  and 
haggard  from  long  suffering,  set  out  for  Versailles  to  fetch 
the  king  to  Paris.     As  they  straggled  over  the  muddy  roads 


.; 


The  French  Revolution  359 


all  the  male  and  female  riff-raff  of  the  suburbs  joined  them. 
In  the  face  of  this  tremendous  danger  Lafayette,  the  com- 
mander of  the  militia  and  guardian  of  the  civil  order,  did 
nothing.  If,  as  has  been  supposed,  he  remained  inactive  in 
order  to  get  the  king  into  his  power,  he  has  fairly  merited 
the  charge  of  political  trickery.  Certain  it  is  that  it  was 
onlv  when  the  National  Guard  refused  to  wait  longer  that 
he  consented  to  conduct  it  to  Versailles,  and  preserve  peace. 
When  he  arrived  there  in  the  night,  some  hours  after  the 
women,  he  found  everything  in  the  greatest  confusion;  but 
by  his  timely  intercession  he  saved  the  lives  of  the  royal  fam- 
ily, and  was  enabled  to  pose  as  the  preserver  of  the  mon- 
archy. But  if  the  rioters  spared  the  king  and  queen,  they 
declared  firmly,  at  the  same  time,  that  they  would  be  satisfied 
with  nothing  short  of  the  removal  of  the  royal  residence  to 
Paris.  What  could  the  king  do  but  give  his  consent?  On 
the  6th  the  terrible  maenads,  indulging  in  triumphant  song 
and  dance  along  the  road,  escorted  to  the  palace  of  the 
Tuileries  "the  baker,  the  baker's  wife,  and  the  baker's  litde 
boy,"  from  whose  presence  in  their  midst  they  promised 
themselves  an  end  of  misery.  The  National  Assembly,  of 
course,  followed  the  king,  and  was  quartered  in  the  riding- 
school  near  the  palace. 
The  events  of  October  5th  and  6th  ruined  the  monarchy.  The  people 

,         ,  ...  .'.        henceforth 

and  Lafayette  cannot  escape  the  charge  of  havmg  contnb-  supreme. 
uted  in  some  measure  to  the  result.  The  king  at  the  Tuile- 
ries, indeed,  was  now  practically  Lafayette's  prisoner;  but 
Lafayette  himself,  even  though  it  took  him  some  months  to 
find  it  out,  was  henceforth  the  prisoner  of  the  people.  The 
great  October  days  had  allowed  "the  patriots,"  as  the  agita- 
tors euphemistically  called  themselves,  to  realize  their  power; 
and  having  once  eaten  of  the  poisonou.^  fruit  of  violence, 
they  would  require  more  than  Lafayett«:;'s  energy  to  bring 
them  back  to  a  respect  for  the  law.     Henceforth,  organized 


360 


The  French  Revolution 


The  clubs. 


Cordeliers  and 
Jacobins. 


under  clever  and  unscrupulous  leaders,  "the  patriots"  play 
the  decisive  role  in  the  Revolution,  gradually  but  resistlessly 
forcing  the  king,  Lafayette,  the  National  Assembly,  and  all 
the  constituted  authorities  of  France  to  bow  down  before 
them. 

What  greatly  contributed  to  the  power  of  the  multitude  was 
the  excitement  and  vague  enthusiasm  which  possessed  all 
classes  alike.  We  must  always  remember,  in  order  to  under- 
stand the  tremendous  pace  at  which  the  Revolution  devel- 
oped, that  the  year  1789  marks  an  almost  unparalleled  agita- 
tion of  public  opinion.  A  leading  symptom  of  this  condition 
were  the  innumerable  pamphlets  and  newspapers  which  ac- 
companied the  events  of  the  day  with  explanatory  comment, 
and  not  infrequently  assumed  the  form  of  fanatical  exhor- 
tation. But  the  most  prominent  and  unique  witness  of  the 
disturbed  state  of  opinion  was  offered  by  the  clubs.  Clubs 
for  consultation  and  debate  became  the  great  demand  of  the 
hour;  they  arose  spontaneously  in  all  quarters;  in  fact,  every 
coffee-house  acquired,  through  the  passion  of  its  frequenters, 
the  character  of  a  political  association.  Of  all  these  unions 
the  Jacobins  and  the  Cordeliers  soon  won  the  most  influen- 
tial position.  The  Cordeliers  recruited  their  numbers  from 
among  the  Parisian  "patriots";  Danton  and  Marat  were 
among  their  leaders,  and  the  tone  of  the  club  was,  from  the 
first,  wildly  revolutionary.  The  Jacobins,  destined  to  be- 
come a  name  of  dread  throughout  Europe,  began  much 
more  gently.  They  offered  a  meeting-point  for  the  consti- 
tutional and  educated  elements,  and  rapidly  spread  in  num- 
berless branches,  or  so-called  daughter  societies,  over  the 
length  and  breadth  of  France.  However,  this  club,  too,  suc- 
cumbed before  long  to  the  extreme  revolutionary  tendencies. 
Lafayette,  Sieyes,  and  Mirabeau,  whose  power  was  at  first 
dominant,  were  gradually  displaced  by  Robespierre,  and 
Robespierre,  once  in  authority,  skilfully  used  the  club  as 


The  French  Revolution  361 

a  means  of  binding   together   the   radical  opinion  of  the 
country. 

Throughout  the  years  1789  and  1790  the  National  As-  The  abolition 
sembly  was  engaged  in  meeting  current  issues,  and  in  male-  August  Ifhf' 
ing  a  constitution.  The  great  question  of  the  privileges, 
which  had  proved  unsolvable  in  the  early  years  of  Louis 
XVI.,  caused  no  difficulties  after  the  National  Assembly  had 
once  been  constituted.  On  August  4,  1789,  the  nobility  and 
clergy,  in  an  access  of  magnanimity,  renounced  voluntarily 
their  feudal  rights,  and  demanded  that  they  be  admitted 
into  the  body  of  French  citizens  on  a  basis  of  equality. 
August  4th  saw  the  last  of  the  corvee,  rights  of  the  chase, 
guilds,  and  other  forms  of  mediaeval  injustice,  and  is  one  of 
the  great  days  of  the  Revolution. 

But  one  burning  question  inherited  from  the  ancien  regime  Financial 
remained — the  question  of  the  finances.  Since  the  general  A^embly?^ 
cessation  of  business  which  attended  the  Revolution  con- 
tributed to  the  depletion  of  the  treasury,  the  National  As- 
sembly, in  order  to  avoid  imminent  bankruptcy,  resolved, 
in  November,  1789,  to  confiscate  the  property  of  the  clergy, 
valued  at  many  millions,  and  presently  issued  against  this 
new  security  paper  money  called  assignats.  The  assignats 
at  the  beginning  were  a  perfectly  sound  financial  measure, 
but  owing  to  the  continued  needs  of  the  treasury  they  were 
multiplied  to  such  a  degree  that  confidence  in  them  was  un- 
dermined and  their  value  shrunk  to  almost  nothing.  Al- 
ready the  time  was  not  far  off  when  it  would  take  a  basket 
of  assignats  to  buy  a  pair  of  boots.  Under  these  condi- 
tions the  finances  fell  into  frightful  disorder,  and  bv  per- 
manently deranging  the  business  of  the  country  contributed 
in  no  small  measure  to  the  increasing  anarchy  of  the  Rev- 
olution. 

In  the  intervals  of  the  discharge  of  current  business,  the  Thenewcorv 
Assembly  deliberated  concerning  the  future  constitution  of  ®'""''°"- 


362 


The  French  Revolution 


Death  of 
Mirabeau, 
April,  1 791. 


The  unsatis- 
factory position 
of  the  king. 


France.  By  slow  degrees  that  creation  marched  during  the 
succeeding  months  to  completion.  Of  course  it  is  not  pos- 
sible to  examine  it  here  with  any  detail.  If  we  remember 
that  it  was  the  work  of  men  who  had  suffered  from  an  ab- 
solute executive  and  were  under  the  spell  of  the  dogmatic 
philosophy  of  the  eighteenth  century,  we  shall  understand 
its  principal  feature.  This  was  that  the  executive  was  made 
purposely  weak,  and  the  power  intrusted  to  the  people  and 
the  legislature.  This  legislature,  it  was  provided,  should 
consist  of  one  House,  elected  for  two  years  by  all  the  active 
citizens^  of  the  kingdom.  Mirabeau,  the  great  statesman 
of  the  Revolution,  fought  hard  to  secure  to  the  king  that 
measure  of  power  which  an  executive  requires  in  order  to  be 
efficient;  but  he  was  unappreciated  by  his  colleagues  and 
distrusted  by  Louis,  and  in  almost  all  important  matters  met 
defeat.  Broken  down  by  disappointment  and  reckless  ex- 
cesses he  died  (April,  1791),  prophesying  in  his  last  days, 
with  marvellous  accuracy,  all  the  ulterior  stages  of  the  Rev- 
olution. 

The  death  of  Tklirabeau  was  generally  lamented,  but  no 
one  had  more  reason  for  regret  than  the  king,  who  had 
found  in  the  statesman  his  most  valuable  supporter.  Ever 
since  October  6th,  Louis  had  been  the  virtual  prisoner  of 
the  populace,  and  had  lost  all  influence  in  the  shaping  of 
events.  The  constitution,  which  in  the  spring  of  1791  was 
nearing  completion  and  would  soon  be  forced  upon  him,  he 
regarded  as  impracticable.  While  Mirabeau  lived  he  re- 
tained some  hope  of  a  change  among  the  legislators  in  his 
favor;  but  when  the  great  orator's  death  robbed  him  of  this 
prospect,  his  thoughts  turned  to  flight  as  the  only  means  of 
escaping  from  a  position  which  he  regarded  as  untenable, 


'  Citizens  were  divided  by  this  constitution  into  two  classes,  active  and 
passive.  Only  the  active  class,  composed  of  those  who  paid  a  certain  small 
contribution  in  the  form  of  a  direct  tax,  could  vote. 


The  French  Revolution  363 


and  which  exposed  his  queen,  his  children,  and  all  who  were 
dear  to  him  to  the  insults  of  the  Parisian  multitude. 

The  flight  of  the  kins;  and  royal  family  was  arranged  with  The  flight  to 

1  r    X  1-        T>  Varennes, 

the  greatest  secrecy  for  the  night  of  June  20th.  But  too  i^^j. 
confident  of  his  disguise  as  a  valet,  Louis  exposed  himself 
needlessly  at  a  post-station,  only  to  be  recognized  by  the  son 
of  the  postmaster,  who  galloped  through  the  night  to  give 
the  alarm.  At  the  village  of  Varennes  the  bells  sounded 
the  tocsin,  and  the  excited  people,  summoned  from  their 
beds,  would  not  permit  the  royal  carriage  to  proceed.  With 
safety  almost  in  view  the  flight  came  to  an  end.  The  fugi- 
tives were  brought  back  to  Paris,  where  once  more  they  had 
the  key  turned  on  them  in  their  palatial  prison. 

The  flight  of  the  king  divided  opinion  in  Paris  sharply.   Themon&rch- 

1111  •      -i      •      tu       ical  majority 

It  gave  the  monarchists,  who  had  a  clear  majority  m  tne  reinstates  the 
Assembly,  their  first  inkling  that  they  had  gone  too  far.  A  '""g- 
monarch  was  necessary  to  their  constitutional  fabric,  and 
now  they  beheld  their  chosen  representative  attempting  to 
elude  the  honor  by  running  away  from  it.  They  began  in 
consequence  to  exhibit  suddenly  for  the  captive  and  dis- 
armed Louis  a  consideration  which  they  had  never  accorded 
him  in  his  happier  days.  Many  popular  leaders,  on  the 
other  hand,  such  as  Danton  and  Robespierre,  regarded  the 
flight  as  an  abdication  and  a  welcome  pretext  for  proclaim- 
ing the  republic.  A  struggle  followed  (July,  1791),  the 
most  ominous  which  Paris  had  yet  witnessed;  but  the  mon- 
archists were  still  a  majority,  and  by  ordering  out  the  Na- 
tional Guard  against  the  rioters,  won  a  victory.  The  As- 
sembly, on  hearing  from  the  king  the  doubtful  statement 
that  he  had  never  meant  to  leave  the  soil  of  France,  nor 
employ  force  against  his  subjects,  solemnly  welcomed  him 
back  to  office;  and  Louis,  in  return,  to  mark  his  reconcilia- 
tion with  his  subjects,  accepted  and  swore  to  observe  the 
constitution.    The  Assembly  was  pleased  to  imagine  that 


364 


The  FrencJi  Revolution 


End  of  the 
Assembly. 


it  had,  by  its  magnanimous  reinstatement  of  the  king,  set- 
tled all  the  difficulties  of  the  situation.  By  September  30, 
1 79 1,  it  had  added  the  last  touches  to  its  work,  and,  dissolv- 
ing itself,  retired  from  the  scene.  Its  strenuous  labors  of 
two  years,  from  which  the  enthusiasts  had  expected  the  ren- 
ovation of  old  Europe,  culminated  in  the  gift  to  the  nation 
of  the  completed  constitution.  The  question  now  was: 
Would  the  constitution  at  length  inaugurate  the  prophesied 
era  of  peace  and  plenty? 

Herewith  ended  what  we  may  call  the  first  phase  of  the 
Revolution.  The  privileges  had  been  abolished  and  the 
absolute  monarchy  had,  at  the  almost  unanimous  demand 
of  the  people,  been  transformed  into  a  constitutional  one; 
but  still  men  and  opinions  continued  to  clash  in  a  bloody 
and  ominous  manner.  In  this  state  of  unrest  a  particular 
reason  for  apprehension  lay  in  the  circumstance  that  the 
government  had  not  been  given  power  enough  to  defend 
itself,  let  alone  guide  and  control  the  nation. 


Character  of 
the  Legislative 
Assembly. 


The  Legislative  Assembly  (October  1,  1791,  to  September  21, 

1792). 

The  First  Legislative  Assembly,  elected  on  the  basis  of  the 
new  constitution,  met  the  day  after  the  National  Assembly 
adjourned.  By  a  self-denying  ordinance,  characteristic  of 
the  mistaken  magnanimity  which  pervaded  the  National 
Assembly,  that  body  had  voted  the  exclusion  of  its  members 
from  the  succeeding  legislature.  The  seven  hundred  and 
forty-five  new  rulers  of  France  were,  therefore,  all  men  with- 
out experience.  That  alone  constituted  a  grave  danger, 
which  was  still  further  increased  by  the  fact  that  most  of  the 
members  were  young  enthusiasts,  who  owed  their  political 
elevation  to  the  oratorical  vigor  displayed  by  them  in  the  local 
Jacobin  clubs. 


The  French  Revolution  365 


The  dangerous  disposition  of  the  Assembly  became  ap-  is  hostile  to 
parent  as  soon  as  the  members  fell  into  party  groups.  Only  '  ^  ''"^" 
a  minority,  called  the  Feuillants,  undertook  to  support  the 
constitution.  On  the  other  hand,  a  very  influential  group, 
■called  the  Gironde,i  favored  the  establishment  of  a  republic. 
Thus  constituted,  the  Assembly  from  the  first  day  directed 
its  energies  upon  destroying  the  monarchy.  The  stages  by 
which  it  accomplished  its  purpose  we  need  not  here  con- 
sider; but  the  supreme  blow  against  the  king  was  delivered 
when  he  was  forced  to  declare  war  against  Austria;  and  ex- 
cept for  this  declaration,  which  marks  a  new  mile-stone  in 
the  Revolution,  we  can  in  a  sketch  like  this  forget  the  Leg- 
islative Assembly  entirely. 

The  declaration  of  war  against  Austria  resulted  from  the   France  de- 

,,.,,,,    clareswar 

rising  mdignation  m  France  over  the  emigres,  who  had  upon  Austria, 
gathered  in  armed  bands  along  the  Rhine,  and  over  the  in-  ^P""'^'  '^^^^ 
creasing  demonstrations  of  monarchical  Europe  against  the 
Revolution.  Frenchmen  generally  supposed  that  Emperor 
Leopold  II.,  brother  of  Queen  Marie  Antoinette,  was  plan- 
ning a  war  to  punish  them  for  their  opinions.  This  we  now 
know  was  not  the  case;  but  Leopold  certainly  took  some 
steps  that  the  French  were  justified  in  interpreting  as  inter- 
ference with  their  affairs.  Lashed  into  fury  by  the  Girondist 
orators,  who  wanted  war  on  the  ground  that  it  would  prove 
the  means  of  carrying  the  republican  faith  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth,  the  Assembly  assumed  a  more  and  more  lofty  tone 
with  the  emperor,  and  finally,  on  April  20,  1792,  declared 
war  against  him. 

Unfortunately,  Leopold,  who  was  a  moderate  and  capable   Prussia  in 
man,  had  died  a  month  before  the  declaration  was  made,   Austria, 
and  it  was  his  dull  and  narrow-minded  son,  Francis  II. 
(1792-1835),  who  was  called  to  do  battle  with  the  Revolu- 


'  So  called  from  the  fact  that  the  leaders  of  the  party  hailed  from  the 
department  of  the  Gironde  (Bordeaux). 


366 


The  French  Revolution 


Invasion  and 
terror. 


The  proclama- 
tion of 
Brunswick. 


tion.  But  the  far-sighted  Leopold  had  not  died  without 
making  some  provision  for  an  eventual  war  with  France. 
In  February,  1792,  alarmed  by  the  hostile  attitude  of  the 
French  people,  he  had  persuaded  the  king  of  Prussia  to 
league  himself  with  him  in  a  close  alliance.  The  declara- 
tion of  April  20th,  therefore,  though  directed  only  at  Aus- 
tria, brought  Prussia  also  into  the  field.  Thus  began  the 
wars  which  were  destined  to  carry  the  revolutionary  ideas 
around  the  world,  to  sweep  away  landmarks  and  traditions, 
and  to  lock  France  and  Europe  in  death-grapple  for  over 
twenty  years. 

It  is  probable  that  the  republican  Girondists,  who  more 
than  any  man  or  party  were  responsible  for  the  war  and 
proudly  looked  upon  it  as  theirs,  expected  an  easy  victor)'. 
They  saw  in  a  vision  the  thrones  of  the  tyrants  crumbling 
at  the  ii  resistible  onset  of  the  new  democracy,  and  them- 
selves hailed  everj'where  as  the  liberators  of  the  human  race. 
But  the  first  engagement  brought  a  sharp  disappointment. 
The  undisciplined  French  forces,  at  the  mere  approach  of 
the  Austrians,  scampered  away  without  risking  a  battle,  and 
when  the  summer  came  it  was  known  that  the  Austrians  and 
Prussians  together  were  preparing  an  invasion  of  France. 
At  this  unexpected  turn  wrath  and  terror  filled  the  repub- 
licans in  Paris.  They  began  to  whisper  the  word  treason, 
and  soon  their  orators  dared  to  denounce  the  king  pub- 
licly as  the  author  of  the  national  calamities.  In  August 
the  allies  crossed  the  border  and  proceeded  on  their  march 
to  the  capital.  Excitement  rose  ever  to  new  heights,  and 
when  the  duke  of  Brunswick,  the  commander-in-chief  of 
the  allies,  threatened,  in  an  outrageous  proclamation,  to 
wreak  an  unexampled  vengeance  on  the  capital  if  but  a 
hair  of  the  king's  head  were  injured,  the  seething  passion 
burst  in  a  wave  of  uncontrollable  fury.  In  the  early  morn- 
ing of  August   loth  the  mob,  organized  by  the  republican 


Tlie  Frettch  Revolution  367 

leaders,  marched  against  the  Tuileries  to  overthrow  the  man 
whom  the  orators  had  represented  as  in  league  with  foreign 
despots  against  the  common  mother,  France. 

When,  during  the  night,  the  bells  from  the  steeples  rang  August  10, 
out  the  preconcerted  summons  over  the  city,  the  king  and  '^^^' 
his  family  knew  that  the  supreme  struggle  had  come.  Dis- 
persed about  in  small  groups,  the  palace  inmates  passed  the 
night  discussing  the  chances  of  the  coming  day.  Of  all  the 
soldiers  a  regiment  of  Swiss  mercenaries  could  alone  be 
counted  on.  That  fact  tells  more  vividly  than  words  the 
pass  to  which  the  ancient  monarchy  of  France  had  come. 
But  even  so,  if  Louis  XVI.  had  now  resolved  to  conquer  or 
die  at  the  head  of  this  faithful  guard,  he  might  have  rallied 
the  moderates  around  the  throne.  But  from  this  king  no 
such  action  was  to  be  expected.  He  could  be  patient,  tolerant 
of  ideas  beyond  his  grasp,  and  even  generous  to  his  enemies, 
but  he  could  not  form  a  heroic  resolution.  At  eight  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  seeing  that  the  mob  was  making  ready  to 
storm  the  palace,  he  abandoned  it  to  seek  shelter  with  the 
Legislative  Assembly.  The  Swiss  Guard,  deserted  by  their 
leader,  made  a  brave  stand.  Only  on  the  king's  express 
order  did  they  give  up  the  Tuileries  and  attempt  to  effect  a 
retreat.  But  the  odds  were  against  them;  and  the  enraged 
populace,  falling  upon  them,  butchered  most  of  them  in  the 
streets. 

Meanwhile,  the  Assembly  was  engaged  in  putting  its  offi-   Endofth* 
cial  seal  to  the  verdict  of  the  mob.     In  the  presence  of  Louis   ^"heajn- 
and  the  royal  family  the  members  voted  the  suspension  of  stitution. 
the  king  and  ordered  the  election  of  a  National  Conven- 
tion to  constitute  a  new  government.     The  present  Assembly 
agreed  to  hold  over  till  September  21st,  the  day  when  the 
new  body  was  ordered  to  meet.    Tlius  perished,  after  an 
existence  of  ten  months,  the  constitution    which    had    in- 
flamed so  many  generous  hearts. 


368 


The  French  Revolution 


The  govern- 
ment seized 
by  the  demo- 
crats. 


Democratic 
enthusiasm 
saves  France. 


The  invasion 
is  checked  at 
Valmy,  Sep- 
tember 20, 
1792. 


The  suspension  of  the  king  left  the  government  in  the 
hands  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  and  a  ministerial  com- 
mittee. But  as  the  capital  was  in  the  hands  of  the  mob  and 
nobody  paid  any  attention  to  the  authorities,  the  real  power 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  leaders  who  on  August  loth  had 
the  courage  to  strike  down  the  king.  Danton,  provisional 
minister  of  justice,  was  the  most  capable  member  of  the 
group.  To  make  success  doubly  sure  they  had,  in  the 
early  morning  hours  of  August  loth,  seized  the  municipal 
government  of  Paris  and  now  lay  intrenched  in  the  city  hall 
or  hotel  de  ville.  Robespierre  and  Marat,  acting  from  this 
local  center,  and  Danton,  from  his  post  of  national  influ- 
ence, were  the  real  sovereigns  of  France  during  the  interlude 
from  August  loth,  the  day  of  the  overthrow  of  the  monarchy, 
to  September  21st,  the  day  of  the  meeting  of  the  National 
Convention. 

It  was  plain  that  the  first  need  of  France  in  this  crisis  was 
to  beat  back  the  invasion.  The  victors  of  the  tenth  of 
August,  therefore,  made  themselves  the  champions  of  the 
national  defence.  Their  orators  steeled  the  hearts  of  the 
citizens  by  infusing  into  them  an  indomitable  courage. 
"What  do  we  require  in  order  to  conquer?"  cried  Danton, 
the  man  of  the  hour:  "to  dare,  and  dare,  and  dare  again." 
The  fatherland  was  declared  in  danger;  all  occupations 
ceased  but  those  which  provided  for  the  necessities  of  life 
and  the  manufacture  of  weapons;  finally,  the  whole  male 
population  was  ordered  under  arms.  Whatever  we  may 
think  of  this  travesty  of  government  by  violence  and  fren- 
zied enthusiasm,  it  certainly  accomplished  its  first  end,  for 
it  put  an  army  into  the  field  composed  of  men  who  were 
ready  to  die,  and  so  saved  France. 

Let  us  turn  for  a  moment  to  the  invasion  of  the  two  Ger- 
man powers,  the  immediate  cause  of  these  Parisian  disturb- 
ances.    By  September  20th  Brunswick,  at  the  head  of  an 


The  French  Revolution  369 


army  composed  chiefly  of  Prussians,  had  got  to  Valmy. 
There  he  was  so  furiously  cannonaded  by  the  eastern  army 
under  the  command  of  Dumouriez  that,  deeply  discouraged, 
he  ordered  a  retreat  which  became  almost  a  rout.  In  a  few 
weeks  not  a  Prussian  or  Austrian  was  left  upon  French  soil. 

This  patriotic  success  of  the  radical  democrats  was  un-  TheSeptem- 
fortunately  marred  by  a  succession  of  frightful  crimes.  To 
understand  them  we  must  once  again  picture  to  ourselves 
the  state  of  France.  The  country  was  in  anarchy,  the  power 
in  the  hands  of  a  few  men,  resolute  to  save  their  country. 
They  were  a  thoroughly  unscrupulous  band,  the  Dantons, 
the  Marats,  and  their  colleagues,  and  since  they  could  not 
afford  to  be  disturbed  in  their  work  of  equipping  armies  by 
local  risings  among  the  supporters  of  the  king,  they  resolved 
to  cow  the  monarchists,  still  perhaps  a  majority,  by  a  sys- 
tem of  terror.  They  haled  to  the  prisons  all  whom  they  sus- 
pected of  being  devoted  to  the  king,  and  in  the  early  days 
of  September  they  emptied  the  crowded  cells  by  a  deliberate 
massacre  of  the  inmates.  An  armed  band  of  assassins  made 
the  round  of  the  prisons,  and  in  the  course  of  three  days 
despatched  nearly  two  thousand  helpless  victims.  Not  a 
hand  was  raised  to  stop  the  hideous  proceedings.  Paris,  to 
all  appearances,  looked  on  stupefied. 

The  National  Convention  (^September  21,  1792,  to  October 

26,  1795). 

The  short  interlude  of  government  by  an  irresponsible  The  National 
faction  came  to  an  end  when  the  National  Convention  met   meets  and 
(September  21st)  and  assumed  control.     This  body  imme-   ^Q^'^^-^y. 
diately  declared  the  monarchy  abolished.     The  defeat  of 
the  allies  at  Valmy  about  this  time  freed  France  from  all 
immediate  danger  from  without,  and  enabled  the  Conven- 
tion to  concern  itself  with  domestic  affairs. 


370 


TJie  FrencJi  Revolution 


Parties  in  the 
Convention. 


Trial  and 
death  of  the 
king. 


In  the  precarious  condition  in  which  France  then  found 
herself,  everything  depended  upon  the  composition  of  the 
new  governing  body.  It  was  made  up  of  nearly  eight  hun- 
dred members,  all  republicans;  but  republicans  of  various 
degrees  of  thoroughness.  The  Gironde,  known  to  us  from 
the  previous  Assembly,  had  considerable  strength,  but  its 
control  of  the  Convention  was  contested  by  the  Mountain,^ 
a  much  more  radical  party,  made  up  chiefly  of  men  like 
Danton,  Marat,  and  Robespierre,  who  had  overthrown  the 
monarchy  and  governed  France  during  the  last  few  weeks. 
The  Gironde  was  composed  of  speculative  philosophers,  who 
saw  no  reason  for  further  illegality  and  violence  now  that 
the  king  was  deposed  and  that  hope  of  mankind,  the  re- 
public, assured.  The  men  of  the  Mountain  were  of  a  more 
fierce  and  practical  turn,  and  concentrated  their  attention 
in  the  present  crisis  upon  the  one  pressing  business  of  de- 
fending France.  Between  these  two  groups,  and  perma- 
nently attached  to  neither,  was  the  great  bulk  of  the  depu- 
ties, called  the  Plain.  Whichever,  Gironde  or  Mountain, 
could  sway  the  Plain,  would  possess  a  majority  and  rule 
France. 

That  the  chasm  between  the  Gironde  and  Mountain  was 
absolutely  unbridgeable  was  shown  when  the  Convention 
took  up  the  important  business  of  the  trial  of  the  king. 
Ever  since  August  loth  Louis  and  his  family  had  been  closely 
confined  in  prison.  In  December  the  deposed  monarch  was 
summoned  before  the  Convention.  The  Girondists,  ami- 
able dreamers  for  the  most  part,  would  have  spared  his 
life,  but  the  Mountainists,  backed  by  the  threats  of  the  mob, 
carried  the  Plain  with  them.  By  a  very  small  majority  the 
citizen  Louis  Capet,  once  Louis  XVI.,  was  condemned  to 
death,  and  on  January  21,  1793,  was  beheaded  by  the  newly 


*  So  called  from  the  fact  that  the  members  took  their  seats  upon  the 
highest  tiers  of  benches. 


The  French  Revolution  371 


invented  machine,  called  the  guillotine.  On  that  eventful 
day  no  hand  was  raised  to  save  the  monarch,  who,  however 
he  may  have  failed  in  '"ntelligence  and  energy,  had  given 
abundant  proof  of  his  devotion  to  the  interests  of  his  people 
as  he  understood  them. 

The  execution  of  the  king  raised  a  storm  of  indignation  The  first  Euro 

_,  ,  ...  ,.,  i.i.f-  pean  coalition 

over  Europe,  and  a  great  coalition,  which  every  state  ot  im-  against  France, 
portance  joined,  sprang  to  life  for  the  purpose  of  punishing 
the  regicides  of  the  Convention.  The  deputies,  nothing  loath, 
accepted  and  even  anticipated  the  challenge.  Thus  the  war 
with  Austria  and  Prussia  promised  to  assume  immense  pro- 
portions in  the  coming  year.  The  members  of  the  great 
coalition  planned  to  attack  France  from  every  side,  and 
humble  her  pride  in  one  rapid  campaign.  The  English 
were  to  sweep  down  upon  her  coasts,  the  Spaniards  to  cross 
the  Pyrenees  and  attack  France  from  the  south,  the  Pied- 
montese  to  pour  over  the  Alps,  and  the  Austrians  and  Prus- 
sians to  operate  in  the  eastern  provinces,  in  Belgium,  and 
along  the  Rhine.  Under  these  circumstances  the  question 
of  the  defence  of  the  French  soil  became  again,  as  it  had 
been  in  the  summer  of  1792,  the  supreme  question  of  the 
hour.  It  was  plain  that  in  order  to  meet  her  enemies,  who 
were  advancing  from  every  point  of  the  compass,  France 
would  have  to  be  united  and  display  an  almost  superhuman 
energy. 

The  new  crisis  quickly  developed  the  animosities  between  Overthrow  of 
Gironde  and  Mountain  into  implacable  hatred.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  both  sides  were  equally  patriotic;  but  the 
immediate  issue  was  not  patriotism  so  much  as  the  most 
practical  means  for  meeting  the  threatening  invasions.  The 
philosophers  of  the  Gironde  insisted  on  presenting  moral 
scruples  about  the  September  massacres  and  other  irregulari- 
ties, but  because  the  case  would  not  wait  upon  such  niceties, 
the  fanatics  of  the  Mountain  resolved  to  strike  their  rivals 


372 


The  French  Revolution 


The  Mountain 
supreme. 


down.  Mobs  were  regularly  organized  by  Marat  to  invade 
the  Convention  and  howl  at  its  bar  for  the  heads  of  the 
Girondist  leaders.  Finally,  on  June  2,  1793,  thirty-one  of 
them,  among  whom  were  the  brilliant  orators  Vergniaud, 
Isnard,  Brissot,  and  Gensonne,  were  excluded  from  the  As- 
sembly and  put  under  arrest. 

The  fall  of  the  Girondists  meant  the  removal  of  the  last 
check  upon  the  ferocity  of  the  Mountain.  The  power  now 
lay  in  its  hands  to  use  as  it  would,  and  the  most  immediate 
end  of  power,  the  Mountain  had  always  maintained,  was 
the  salvation  of  France  from  her  enemies.  To  accomplish 
that  great  purpose  the  Mountain  now  deliberately  returned 
to  the  successful  system  of  the  summer  of  1792 — the  system 
of  terror.  This  phase  of  the  Revolution,  which  is  famous 
as  the  Reign  of  Terror — it  could  appropriately  be  called  the 
Long  Reign  of  Terror,  in  order  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
Short  Reign  of  Terror  of  August  and  September,  1792, 
which  it  closely  resembles — begins  on  June  2d,  with  the  ex- 
pulsion from  the  Convention  of  the  moderate  element,  rep- 
resented by  the  Gironde. 


A  strong  ex- 
ecutive: the 
Committee  of 
Public  Safety. 


The  Reign  of  Terror  (June  2,  1793,  to  July  27,  1794). 

The  Short  Reign  of  Terror  of  the  summer  of  1792  was 
marked  by  two  conspicuous  features:  first,  an  energetic  de- 
fence of  French  soil,  and,  secondly,  a  bloody  repression  of 
the  monarchical  opposition.  The  Long  Reign  of  Terror 
reproduces  these  elements  developed  into  a  system.  What 
is  more  likely  to  secure  an  energetic  defence  than  a  strong 
executive?  The  Mountain,  therefore,  created  a  committee, 
finally,  of  twelve  members,  called  the  Committee  of  Public 
Safety,  which  it  endowed  with  almost  unlimited  powers. 
The  Committee  of  Public  Safety  was  established  before  the 
Girondists  fell,  but  the  fact  that  it  did  not  acquire  its  sov- 


The  French  Revolution  373 

ereign  influence  until  the  summer  of  1793  proves  how  in- 
timately it  was  associated  with  the  Mountain  scheme  of 
government. 

Of  the  famous  Committee  of  Public  Safety  the  most  con-  Robespierre 
spicuous  figure  was  Robespierre,  for  which  reason  the  whole  ^  ^"°  ' 
period  of  the  Terror  is  sometimes  identified  with  his  name. 
But  Robespierre,  if  most  in  view,  was  by  no  means  the  most 
active  of  the  members  of  the  committee.  He  was  indeed 
the  hero  of  the  populace  and  the  Jacobins,  and  swayed  the 
Assembly  by  his  oratory,  but  the  men  who  provided  for  the 
defence  of  France  were  Carnot,  Prieur,  and  Lindet.  Dur- 
ing the  prolonged  internal  convulsions  they  kept  as  far  as 
possible  aloof  from  politics,  and  quietly  and  unostentatiously 
attended  to  business.  They  organized  the  general  levy, 
equipped  the  armies,  appointed  the  generals,  and  mapped 
out  the  campaigns.  If  France  was  able  to  confront  the 
forces  of  the  coalition  by  armies  which  soon  exceeded  the 
enemy  in  numbers  and  are  sometimes  set,  though  with  evi- 
dent exaggeration,  at  1,000,000  men,  this  great  achievement, 
on  which  hung  the  salvation  of  the  country,  may  be  written 
down  primarily  to  Carnot  and  his  two  helpers. 

The  executive  having  been  thus  efficiently  provided  for,  Themachin- 
it  remained  to  systematize  the  repression  of  the  anti-revolu-  Terror.  ^ 
tionary  elements.  The  machinery  of  the  Terror,  as  this 
systematization  may  be  called,  presented,  on  its  completion, 
the  following  features:  First,  there  was  the  Law  of  the  Sus- 
pects. By  this  unique  measure  the  authorities  were  au- 
thorized to  imprison  anyone  soever  who  was  denounced  to 
them  as  "suspect,"  a  term  that  could  be  stretched  to  mean 
almost  anything.  It  was  afterward  said  by  a  wit  that  all 
France  went  about  in  those  days  conjugating,  I  am  suspect, 
thou  art  suspect,  he  is  suspect,  etc.  In  consequence,  the 
prisons  were  crowded  from  garret  to  cellar  with  thousands 
of  victims.    To  empty  them  was  the  function  of  the  second 


374 


TJie  French  Revolution 


Marat  and 

Charlotte 

Corday. 


element  of  the  terrorist  machinery,  called  the  Revolutionary 
Tribunal.  This  was  a  special  court  of  justice,  created  for 
the  purpose  of  trying  the  suspects  wilh  security  and  de- 
spatch. At  first  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  adhered  to 
certain  legal  forms,  but  gradually  it  sacrificed  every  consider- 
ation to  the  demand  for  speed.  The  time  came  when  pris- 
oners were  haled  before  the  dread  judges  in  companies,  and 
condemned  to  death  with  no  more  ceremony  than  the  read- 
ing of  their  names.  There  then  remained  for  the  luckless 
victims  the  third  and  last  step  in  the  process  of  the  Terror: 
they  were  carted  to  an  open  square,  called  the  Square  of 
the  Revolution,  and  amid  staring  and  hooting  mobs,  who 
congregated  to  the  spectacle  every  day  as  to  a  feast,  their 
heads  fell  under  the  stroke  of  the  guillotine. 

Before  the  Terror  had  well  begun,  one  of  its  prime  insti- 
gators, Marat,  was  overtaken  by  a  merited  fate.  Marat 
was  the  mouth-piece  of  the  utterly  ragged  and  lawless  ele- 
ment of  Paris.  He  had  lately  developed  a  thirst  for  blood 
that  can  only  be  accounted  for  on  the  ground  of  disease. 
Yet  this  degenerate  proudly  styled  himself  "the  friend  of  the 
people."  The  blow  which  finally  put  an  end  to  his  wild  dec- 
lamations was  delivered  from  an  unexpected  quarter.  Many 
of  the  Girondists,  who  owed  their  overthrow  primarily  to  Ma- 
rat, had  succeeded  in  making  their  escape  to  the  provinces. 
At  Caen,  in  Normandy,  the  fugitives  aroused  the  sympa- 
thies of  a  beautiful  and  noble-minded  girl,  Charlotte  Cor- 
day. Passionately  afflicted  by  the  divisions  of  her  country, 
which  she  laid  at  Marat's  door.  <ihe  resolved  by  a  bold 
stroke  to  free  France  from  the  oppressor  vin  Jul}'  13, 
1793,  she  succeeded  in  forcing  an  entrance  \\v:-n  liis  house, 
and  stabbed  him  in  his  bath.  She  knew  that  the  act  meant 
her  own  death,  but  her  exaltation  did  not  desert  her  for  a 
moment,  and  she  passed  to  the  guillotine  a  few  days  after 
the  deed  with  the  sustained  calm  of  a  martyr. 


The  French  Revolution  375 


The  dramatic  incidents  associated  with  so  many  illustri-  Death  of 
ous  victims  of  the  Terror  can  receive  only  scant  justice  here,  ^ette,  October, 
In  October  Marie  Antoinette  was  summoned  before  the  '793- 
Revolutionary  Tribunal.  She  met  with  noble  dignity  the 
flimsy  and  untenable  charges  trumped  up  against  her,  and 
on  receiving  her  death-verdict  mounted  the  scaffold  with  the 
courage  befitting  a  daughter  of  the  Caesars.^  A  few  days 
after  the  death  of  Marie  Antoinette,  the  imprisoned  Giron- 
dists, to  the  number  of  twenty-one,  travelled  the  same  road. 
They  were  followed  by  the  duke  of  Orleans  and  Madame 
Roland,  each  hostile  to  the  other,  but  charged  alike  with 
complicity  in  the  Girondist  plots.  The  duke  of  Orleans, 
head  of  the  secondary  branch  of  the  House  of  Bourbon, 
richly  merited  his  sentence.  He  had  crowned  a  life  of  de- 
bauchery and  intrigue  by  siding  against  Louis  XVI.,  and 
identifying  himself  with  the  Jacobin  party,  going  even  to  the 
point  of  dropping  his  titles  and  adopting  the  family  name 
of  Equality  (Egalit^).  When  in  1792  he  was  elected  to  the  Mr.  Equality 
Convention,  he  unblushingly  committed  his  final  act  of  in- 
famy by  voting  for  the  death  of  the  king.  His  very  antipo- 
des was  Madame  Roland.^  Her  honest  but  bookish  enthu-  Madame 
siasm  for  a  regenerated  public  life  naturally  drew  her  to  the 
Girondist  party.  For  a  time  her  house  had  been  their  meet- 
ing-place, and  she  herself,  with  the  emotional  extravagance 
characteristic  of  the  period,  had  been  worshipped  as  the 
muse,  the  Egeria,  of  the  republican  philosophers.  In  spite 
of  her  political  immaturity,  her  mind  had  the  imprint  of 

*  Marie  Antoinette  left  two  children,  a  princess  of  fifteen  years  and  the 
dauphin,  Louis,  aged  eight.  The  princess  was  released  in  1 795,  but  before 
that  mercy  could  be  extended  to  the  boy,  he  had  died  under  the  inhuman 
treatment  of  his  jailers.  The  systematic  torturing  to  death  of  the  poor 
dauphin  is  one  of  the  darkest  blots  upon  the  Revolution.  The  dauphm  is 
reckoned  by  legitimists  as  Louis  XVII. 

'  Madame  Roland  owed  her  influence  in  part  to  her  husband,  who  was  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Gironde  and  a  minister  during  the  last  months 
of  the  reign  of  Louis  XVI.  and  again  in  the  fall  of  1792.  Roland  made 
his  escape  when  the  Gironde  was  proscribed,  but  committed  suicide  on 
hearing  of  the  death  of  his  wife. 


3/6 


The  French  Revolution 


Revolt  at 
Lyons,  Toulon, 
and  in  the 
Vendee. 


The  Conven- 
tion crushes 
the  revolts. 


nobility  and  sustained  her  in  her  hour  of  trial.  On  mount- 
ing the  steps  of  the  guillotine,  she  paused  to  contemplate  a 
statue  of  Liberty  which  had  been  erected  near  by.  Her  last 
words  were  addressed  to  the  impassive  goddess.  "  Liberty," 
.she  said,  "what  crimes  are  committed  in  thy  name." 

But  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  Terror  was 
limited  to  Paris,  or  was  directed  merely  against  prominent 
individuals.  By  means  of  revolutionary  committees  and 
other  agencies  it  was  carried  into  the  provinces  on  the 
ground  that  all  France  would  have  to  be  inspired  with  the 
same  sentiments  if  the  foreign  invaders  were  to  be  checked. 
The  departments,  inhabited  for  the  most  part  by  law-abid- 
ing citizens,  had  from  the  first  shown  signs  of  restlessness 
under  the  violences  of  the  Terror;  and  when  the  Gironde,  a 
provincial  party,  fell  victim  to  the  Mountain,  identified  with 
Paris,  the  situation  straightway  became  strained  and  led  to 
the  raising  here  and  there  of  the  standard  of  revolt.  The 
great  city  of  Lyons  refused  to  recognize  further  the  authority 
of  the  Convention,  and  the  important  naval  station,  Toulon, 
went  a  step  farther  and  surrendered  to  the  English.  Here 
was  matter  for  thought,  but  it  was  as  nothing  compared  with 
the  great  rising  in  the  w'est.  The  peasants  of  the  region 
called  La  Vendee  gathered  in  armed  bands  under  the  lead- 
ership of  the  priests  and  nobles,  and  inflamed  by  the  dese- 
cration of  the  churches  and  the  execution  of  the  king,  refused 
to  bow  their  necks  to  the  men  of  the  Revolution. 

This  difficult  situation  the  Convention,  or  ratner  the 
Mountain  and  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety,  met  with 
unflinching  resolution.  It  sent  an  army  agaiiv^t  Lyon<^,  and 
in  October,  1793,  after  a  brave  resistance,  the  rVT  was  taken. 
Then  the  Convention  resolved  to  inflict  an  imb'^ard-of  pun- 
ishment; it  ordered  the  destruction  of  a  part  ot  the  city  and 
the  erection  on  the  ruins  of  a  pillar  with  the  inscription, 
"Lyons  waged  war  with  liberty;  Lyons  is  no  more."     In 


The  French  Revolution  377 

December,  1793,  the  French  army  regained  Toulon,  chiefly 
through  the  skill  of  a  young  artillery  officer.  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte; and,  in  the  same  month,  another  army  scattered  the 
insurgents  of  the  Vendue.  But  discontent  continuing  to 
smoulder  in  the  west,  the  Convention  was  roused  to  send  one 
Carrier,  armed  with  full  powers,  to  stamp  out  the  embers.  Carrier  at 
The  vengeance  wreaked  by  this  madman  upon  the  hostile 
priests  and  peasants  make  the  infamies  of  the  Revolutionary 
Tribunal  at  Paris  look  like  nursery  pastimes.  Dissatisfied 
with  the  slow  process  of  the  guillotine,  Carrier  invented  new 
methods  of  wholesale  execution.  The  most  ingenious,  the 
noyade  (drowning),  consisted  in  loading  an  old  vessel  with 
one  hundred,  two  hundred,  and  even  eight  hundred  victims 
— men,  women,  and  children — floating  it  down  the  Loire, 
and  then  scuttling  it  in  the  middle  of  the  river.  Thus  the 
Terror  penetrated  to  every  corner  of  the  land,  and  held  all 
France  in  subjection. 

But  its  rule  was,  by  its  very  nature,  exceptional.  Sooner  Disruption  of 
or  later  there  was  bound  to  occur  a  division  among  its  sup-  evltable."^" 
porters,  and  when  division  came  the  revolutionists  were  sure 
to  rage  against  each  other,  as  they  had  once  raged  in  com- 
mon against  the  aristocrats.  The  supreme  statesman  of  the 
period,  Mirabeau,  had  foreseen  that  development.  In  a 
moment  of  prophetic  insight  he  had  declared  that  the  Rev- 
olution, like  Saturn,  would  end  by  devouring  its  own  ofif- 
spring. 

The  first  signs  of  the  disintegration  of  the  party  of  the  End  of  the 
Terror  began  to  appear  in  the  autumn  of  1793.  The  most  March,  1794. 
radical  wing,  which  owed  its  strength  to  its  hold  on  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  city  of  Paris,  and  which  followed  the  lead  of 
one  Hebert,  had  turned  its  particular  animosity  against  the 
Catholic  faith.  To  replace  this  ancient  cult,  despised  as 
aristocratic,  the  Hebertists  invented,  in  the  spirit  of  reckless 
atheism,   the  so-called  religion  of  Reason,  and   presently 


378 


The  French  Revolution 


The  fall  of 
Danton,  April, 
1794- 


Supremacy  of 
RoDcspicrre. 


forced  its  acceptance  upon  the  city  of  Paris  by  means  of  a 
decree  which  closed  all  places  of  Catholic  worship.  Although 
this  extravagant  measure  was  soon  withdrawn  and  religious 
toleration  reasserted  in  principle,  Robespierre  took  the  ear 
liest  opportunity  to  denounce  Hebert  and  his  ilk  before  the 
Jacobins.  Finally,  in  March,  1794,  he  resolved  to  have 
done  with  the  religious  farce,  and  abruptly  order*vl  the  lead- 
ing atheists  to  the  guillotine. 

The  overthrow  of  Hebert  was  followed  by  that  of  Danton, 
a  man  of  a  better  and  nobler  stamp,  who,  falling,  carried  his 
friends  and  satellites  down  with  him.  A  titanic  nature,  with 
a  claim  to  real  statesmanship,  he  had  exercised  a  decisive 
influence  in  more  than  one  great  crisis;  France  had  pxima- 
rily  him  to  thank  for  her  rescue  from  the  Prussians  in  the 
summer  of  1792,  and,  again,  the  establishment  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Public  Safety  was  largely  his  work.  But  now  h** 
was  growing  weary.  The  uninterrupted  flow  of  blood  dia 
gusted  him,  and  he  raised  his  voice  in  behalf  of  mercy 
Mercy,  to  Robespierre  and  his  young  follower,  the  arch- 
fanatic  Saint  Just,  was  nothing  less  than  treason,  and  in  sud- 
den alarm  at  Danton's  "moderation"  they  hurried  him  and 
his  friends  to  the  guillotine  (April  5,  1794)-  Thus  Robes- 
pierre was  rid  of  his  last  rival.  No  wonder  that  it  was  now 
whispered  abroad  that  he  was  planning  to  make  himself 
dictator. 

And  between  Robespierre  and  a  dictatorship  there  stood, 
in  the  spring  of  1794,  only  one  thing — his  own  political 
incapacity.  That  he  had  the  Jacobins,  the  municipality  of 
Paris,  the  Convention,  and  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety 
in  his  hands  was  proved  by  their  servile  obr  'cnce  to  his 
slightest  nod.  On  May  7th  he  had  the  salisfacnon  of  wrest- 
ing from  the  Convention  a  decree  aftei'  his  own  heart,  for 
that  body  made  solemn  affirmation  to  the  effect  that  the 
French  people  recognized  a  Supreme  Being  and  the  immor- 


Tlie  French  Revolution 


379 


tality  of  the  soul.     It  sufficiently  characterizes  the  solemn   Proclaims  the 

,.■.-»,  .  ,         1  -i-iTii  religion  of  the 

pedantry  of  Robespierre  that  he  never  in  his  lite  took,  any-  supreme 
thing  so  seriously  as  this  ludicrous  declaration,  nor  had  an  ^emg. 
inkling  of  the  absurdity  of  the  festival  of  June  8,  1794,  at 
which  he  presided  as  high-priest  and  proclaimed  the  gospel 
of  the  Supreme  Being  to  the  heathen.  Two  days  after  the 
ceremony  he  showed  in  what  spirit  he  interpreted  his  relig- 
ious leadership.  In  order  to  facilitate  the  condemnations, 
the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  (law  of  June  loth)  was  multi- 
plied, and  its  procedure  stripped  of  the  last  vestiges  of  legal 
form.  Then  only  did  the  executions  in  Paris  begin  in  a 
really  wholesale  manner.  During  the  six  weeks  before  the 
adoption  of  the  new  religion,  the  numbers  of  those  guillo- 
tined in  Paris  amounted  to  577;  during  the  first  six  weeks 
after  its  adoption,  the  victims  reached  the  frightful  figure  of 
1,356.  No  government  office,  no  service  rendered  on  the 
battle-field  secured  immunity  from  arrest  and  death.  At 
last,  the  Terror  invaded  the  Convention  itself.  Paralyzed 
by  fear  that  body  submitted,  for  a  time,  to  the  desperate 
situation.  But  when  the  uncertainty  connected  with  living 
perpetually  under  a  threat  of  death  had  become  intolerable, 
the  opponents  of  Robespierre  banded  together  in  order  to 
crush  him.  It  is  only  fair  to  say  that  he  took  no  direct 
part  in  the  slaughter  of  these  last  weeks.  He  had  a  certain 
fastidiousness  distinguishing  him  favorably  from  many  of 
his  associates  in  the  governing  clique,  such  as  Billaud, 
Collot,  and  Fouche,  who  covered  themselves  with  every 
infamy.  With  his  immense  following  among  the  people  he 
could  doubtless  have  anticipated  his  enemies,  but  instead 
of  action  he  wrapped  himself  in  a  mysterious  silence.  On  Fallof  Robes- 
the  9th  of  Thermidor  (July  27th)i  he  and  his  adherents  ^h^rmuior. 

'  The  Convention,  guided  by  its  hatred  of  the  royalist  past,  had  intro- 
duced a  new  system  of  time  reckoning.  Since  the  birth  of  the  republic 
was  regarded  as  more  important  than  the  birth  of  Christ,  September  21, 
1792,  the  day  when  monarchy  was  formally  abolished,  was  voted  the  be- 


38o 


The  FrencJi  Revolution 


were  condemned  by  the  Convention  and  executed  the  next 
day. 


rhe  reaction 
in  the  Con- 
vention. 


The  Rule  oj  the  Thermidorians  (July  27,  1794,  to  October 

26,  1795). 

The  fall  of  Robespierre  put  an  end  to  the  Terror,  nov 
because  Robespierre  was  the  Terror,  but  because  the  sys- 
tem had,  after  a  year  of  wild  extravagance,  become  so 
thoroughly  discredited,  even  among  its  own  supporters^ 
that  the  Convention  saw  itself  obliged  to  discontinue  the 
methods  of  tyranny.  The  Thermidorians,  many  of  whom 
had  been  the  vilest  instruments  of  the  Terror  and  had  dipped 
their  hands  into  every  kind  of  crime,  bowed,  therefore,  to  the 
force  of  circumstances.  They  studiously  heaped  all  the  blame 
for  the  past  year  on  the  dead  Robespierre,  and  hypocritically 
assumed  the  character  of  life-long  lovers  of  rule  and  order. 
Slowly  the  frightened  bourgeoisie  recovered  its  courage  and 
rallied  to  the  support  of  the  Thermidorian  party,  and  finally 
a  succession  of  concerted  blows  swept  the  fragments  of  the 
Terror  from  the  face  of  France.  The  municipality  of  Paris, 
the  citadel  of  the  rioters,  was  dissolved;  the  Revolutionary 
Tribunal  dispersed;  the  functions  of  the  Committee  of  Pub- 
lic Safety  restricted;  and,  to  make  victory  sure,  the  Jacobin 
Club,  the  old  hearth  of  disorder,  was  closed.  During  the 
next  year — the  last  of  its  long  lease  of  power — the  Conven- 
tion ruled  France  in  full  accord  with  the  moderate  opinion 
of  the  majority  of  the  citizens. 


ginning  of  a  new  era.  The  whole  Christian  calendar  was  at  the  same 
time  declared  to  be  tainted  with  aristocracy,  and  a  new  calendar  devised. 
Its  chief  feature  was  the  invention  of  new  names  for  the  months,  such  as: 
Nivose,  Snow  month;  Pluviose,  Rain  month;  Ventose,  Wind  month,  for 
the  winter  months;  Germinal,  Budding  month;  Floreal,  Flower  month; 
Prairial,  Meadow  month,  for  the  spring  months,  etc. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  Convention,  a  body  of  men  unhampered 
by  tradition,  discussed  many  laudable  reforms  and  carried  some  of  them 
into  effect.  One  change  has  invited  imitation.  It  supplanted  the  old  and 
complicated  system  of  weights  and  measures  by  the  metricd  system. 


The  French  Revolution  381 

But  if  the  Terror  fell,  its  overthrow  was  due  not  only  to  The  Terror 
the  horror  it  inspired,  but  also  to  the  fact  that  it  had  accom-   defends 
plished  its  end.     Its  cause,  as  weU  as  its  excuse,  was  the   France, 
danger  of  France,  and  whatever  else  be  said,  it  had  really 
succeeded  in  defending  the  country  against  the  forces  of  a 
tremendous  coalition.     On  this  defence  the  reader  must 
now  bestow  a  rapid  glance.     In  the  campaign  of  1793  the 
French  had  just  about  held  their  own,  but  in  1794  Carnot's 
splendid  power  of  organization,  and  his  gift  for  picking 
out  young  talents,  enabled  the  revolutionary  army  to  carry 
the  war  into  the  territory  of  the  enemy.    Thus  the  tables  were  The  first  revo- 
turned  and  old  Europe,  instead  of  invading  young  France,   successes, 
found  itself  invaded.    In  the  course  of  1794  Jourdan's  army 
conquered  Belgium,  and  shortly  after  Pichegru  seized  Hol- 
land.    Belgium,  which  ever  since  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht  had 
been  a  dominion  of  Austria,  was  annexed  to  France,  but 
Holland  was  left  independent,  though  reconstituted  as  a  re- 
public and  subjected  to  French  influence.     At  the  same  time 
the  recrudescence  of  the  old  animosities  between  Prussia 
and  Austria,  this  time  over  the  question  of  Poland,  para- 
lyzed the  military  action  of  the  German  allies,  and  enabled 
the  French  to  occupy  the  whole  left  bank  of  the  Rhine. 
Incurable  jealousies,  coupled  with  the  demoralizing  efifect 
of  the  revolutionary  victories,  undermined  the  coalition;  and 
as  the  Thermidorians  had  no  special  reasons  for  continuing 
the  war,  they  entered  into  negotiations  with  Prussia  and   Peacewith 
Spain,  and  in  the  spring  of  1795  concluded  peace  with  them   spain,  1795. 
at  Basel.     By  these  treaties  the  position  of  France  was  made 
more  secure,  for  England  and  Austria  alone  of  the  great 
powers  were  now  left  in  the  field  against  her. 

Meanwhile,  the  Convention  had  taken  up  the  long-neg-  TheConven- 
lected  task  for  which  it  had  been  summoned,  and  in  the  a  constitution, 
course  of  the  year  1795  completed  a  new  constitution  for 
republican   France.      This   constitution   was  ready  to  be 


382 


The  French  Revolution 


Bonaparte 
defends  the 
Convention. 


The  Constitu- 
tion of  the 
Year  III. 


promulgated  when,  in  October,  the  Convention  had  to  meet 
one  more  assault  upon  its  authority.  Animated  by  various 
motives,  many  factions,  among  them  also  the  royalists,  com- 
bined and  swept  down  upon  the  Convention  to  cow  it  by 
violence,  as  they  had  cowed  it  so  often.  But  the  Con- 
vention had  been  for  some  time  filled  with  a  more  valiant 
spirit.  It  resolved  to  defend  itself,  and  intrusted  one  of  its 
members,  Barras,  with  the  task;  but  Barras,  who  was  no 
soldier,  conferred  the  command  of  the  troops  upon  a  young 
officer  and  acquaintance  of  his,  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 
Bonaparte  had  already  creditably  distinguished  himself  at 
Toulon,  and  wanted  nothing  better  than  this  opportunity. 
When  the  rioters  marched  against  the  Convention  on  Octo- 
ber 5  th  he  received  them  with  such  a  volley  of  grape-shot  that 
they  fled  precipitately,  leaving  hundreds  of  their  comrades 
dead  upon  the  pavement.  It  was  a  new  way  of  treating 
Parisian  lawlessness,  and  it  had  its  effect.  Henceforth,  in 
the  face  of  such  drastic  measures  the  people  lost  taste  for  the 
dictation  which  for  six  years  they  had  exercised  by  means 
of  spontaneous  insurrections.  Bonaparte  and  his  volley  of 
grape-shot  meant  the  return  of  mithority,  and  proclaimed 
with  brazen  tongue  that  the  chapter  of  revolutionary  vio- 
lences had  come  to  an  end. 

The  Convention  could  now  perform  its  remaining  busi- 
ness without  hindrance.  On  October  26,  1795,  its  stormy, 
cowardly,  and  yet,  in  some  respects,  highly  creditable  career 
came  to  an  end,  and  the  new  constitution  went  immedi- 
ately into  effect.  It  is  called  the  Constitution  of  the  Year 
III.,  from  the  year  of  the  republican  calendar  in  which  it 
was  completed.  Its  main  provisions  mark  a  return  from  the 
loose,  liberal  notions  of  the  constitution  of  1791  to  a  more 
compact  executive.  Nevertheless,  the  tyranny  of  the  ancien 
righne  was  still  too  near  for  the  objections  against  a  too- 
powerful  executive  to  have  vanished  utterly.     Therefore,  a 


The  French  Revolution  383 

compromise  was  found  in  a  multiple  executive  of  five  mem- 
bers, called  the  Directory.  The  legislative  functions  were 
intrusted  to  two  houses — a  further  departure  from  the  con- 
stitution of  1 791,  the  single  legislative  house  of  which  had 
proved  a  failure— called  respectively,  the  Council  of  Five 
Hundred  and  the  Council  of  the  Ancients. 

The  Directory  (1795-99). 
The  Directory  wished  to  signalize  its  accession  to  power  The  Directory 

•  1         1     -ii-      .      •   .  ii,  plans  a  con- 

by  termmatmg  the  war  with  a  brilliant  victory  over  the  re-   centratedat- 

maining  enemies  of  France,  England  and  Austria.  But  an  J^^jji[^° 
attack  upon  England  was,  because  of  the  insufficiency  of 
French  naval  power,  out  of  the  question.  Austria  was  more 
vulnerable,  and  Austria  the  Directory  now  resolved  to  strike 
with  the  combined  armies  of  France.  In  accordance  with 
this  purpose,  "the  organizer  of  victory,"  Carnot,  who  was 
one  of  the  Directors,  worked  out  a  plan  by  which  the  Aus- 
trians  were  to  be  attacked  simultaneously  in  Germany  and 
Italy.  Two  splendid  armies  under  Jourdan  and  Moreau 
were  assigned  to  the  German  task,  which  was  regarded  as 
by  far  the  more  important,  while  the  Italian  campaign,  un- 
dertaken as  a  mere  diversion,  was  intrusted  to  a  shabbily 
equipped  army  of  30,000  men,  which,  through  the  influence 
of  the  Director  Barras  and  in  reward  for  services  rendered, 
was  put  under  the  command  of  the  defender  of  the  Conven- 
tion, General  Bonaparte.  But  by  the  mere  force  of  his 
genius,  Bonaparte  upset  completely  the  calculations  of  the 
Directory,  and  gave  his  end  of  the  campaign  such  impor- 
tance that  he,  and  not  Jourdan  or  Moreau,  decided  the  war. 

Bonaparte's  task  was  to  beat,  with  his  armv,  an  army  of   Bonaparte  in 

.  ,  T^  r    u      Italy,  1796. 

Piedmontese  and  Austnans  twice  as  large.     Because  ot  the 

superiority  of  the  combined  forces  of  the  enemy,  he  natu- 
rally resolved  to  meet  the  Piedmontese  and  Austrians  sep- 


384 


The  French  Revolution 


The  Peace  of 
Campo  For- 
mio,  1797. 


Bonaparte 
creates  two 
dependent 
republics  in 
Italy. 


arately.  Everything  in  this  plan  depended  on  rapidity,  and 
it  was  now  to  appear  that  no  beast  of  prey  could  excel  the 
stealthy  approach  and  swift  leap  of  this  young  general.  Be- 
fore the  snows  had  melted  from  the  mountains,  he  arrived 
vmexpectedly  before  the  gates  of  Turin,  and  wrested  a  peace 
from  the  king  of  Sardinia-Piedmont,  by  the  terms  of  which 
this  old  enemy  of  France  had  to  surrender  Savoy  and  Nice 
(May,  1796).  Then  Bonaparte  turned  against  the  Aus- 
trians.  Before  May  was  over  he  had  driven  them  out  of 
Lombardy.  The  Pope  and  the  small  princes,  in  alarm,  hast- 
ened to  buy  peace  of  France  by  the  cession  of  territories  and 
of  works  of  art,  while  the  Austrians  tried  again  and  again 
to  recover  their  lost  position.  But  at  Areola  (November, 
1796)  and  Rivoli  (January,  1797),  Bonaparte,  by  his  aston- 
ishing alertness,  beat  signally  the  forces  sent  against  him. 
Then  he  invaded  Austria  to  dictate  terms  under  the  walls  of 
Vienna. 

This  sudden  move  of  Bonaparte's  determined  the  Em- 
peror Francis  II.  to  sue  for  peace.  Although  his  brother, 
the  Archduke  Charles,  had,  at  the  head  of  the  Austrian  forces 
in  Germany,  beaten  Jourdan  and  Moreau  in  the  campaign 
of  1796,  the  emperor  was  not  prepared  to  stand  a  siege  in 
his  capital.  His  offers  were  met  half-way  by  Bonaparte, 
and  out  of  the  negotiations  which  ensued  there  grew  the 
Peace  of  Campo  Formio  (October,  1797).  By  this  peace 
Austria  ceded  her  Belgian  provinces  to  France,  recognized 
a  sphere  of  French  influence  in  Italy,  and  accepted  for  her- 
self the  principle  of  the  Rhine  boundary,  the  details  to  be 
arranged  later  with  the  Empire.  In  return  for  these  con- 
cessions she  received  the  republic  of  Venice,  which  Napoleon 
had  just  seized.  Bonaparte's  victories  had  made  French 
influence  dominant  in  Italy  and  led  to  an  im.portant  political 
rearrangement.  Out  of  his  conquests  in  northern  Italy  he 
established  two  new  states,  the  Cisalpine  republic,  identical, 


The  French  Revolution  385 


in  the  main,  with  the  former  Austrian  province  of  Lom- 
bardy,  and  the  Ligurian  repubhc,  evolved  from  the  former 
city-state  of  Genoa.  Both  these  governments  were  mod- 
elled upon  the  republic  of  France,  and  though,  like  Hol- 
land, nominally  independent,  became  the  timid  clients  of  the 
Directory. 

When  Bonaparte  returned  to  France  he  was  hailed  as  the  Bonaparte 
national  hero,  who  out  of  the  bramble  war  had  plucked  the  the  hour. 
jewel  peace.  And  what  a  peace  he  brought,  a  peace  which 
French  statesmen  had  dreamed  of  but  never  achieved,  and 
which  at  last  carried  France  on  the  east  to  her  natural  boun- 
dary, the  Rhine!  A  man  who  had  in  a  single  campaign  so 
distinguished  himself  and  his  country  naturally  stood,  from 
now  on,  at  the  centre  of  affairs. 

That  Napoleon  Bonaparte  should  obtain  a  position  of  pre-  Youth  of 
eminence  in  France  before  he  had  reached  the  age  of  thirty,  Bonaparte, 
would  never  have  been  prophesied  by  the  friends  of  his  youth. 
He  was  born  at  Ajaccio,  on  the  island  of  Corsica,  in  1769, 
of  a  poor  but  noble  family.  The  inhabitants  of  Corsica, 
Italians  by  race,  had  long  been  ruled  by  Genoa,  when, 
in  the  year  1768,  France  obtained  the  cession  of  the 
island.  At  the  time  of  Napoleon's  birth,  therefore,  the 
French  were  occupied  in  establishing  their  rule  over  a 
people  who  heroically  but  uselessly  resisted  them.  In  the 
midst  of  the  patriotic  excitement  caused  by  his  country's 
overthrow,  the  young  Corsican  grew  up.  The  first  notable 
turn  in  his  fortunes  occurred  when,  at  the  age  of  ten,  he  was 
sent  to  France  to  be  reared  in  a  military  school.  In  due 
course  of  time  he  became  a  lieutenant  of  artillery,  and  it  was 
while  he  was  holding  this  commission,  among  a  people  whom 
he  still  detested  as  the  oppressors  of  his  country,  that  the 
French  Revolution  broke  out,  and  opened  a  free  field  for  all 
who  were  possessed  of  ambition  and  talent.  The  irresistible 
current  of  events  caught  up  and  bore  the  young  Napoleon 


386  The  Frejich  Revolution 

along  until  he  forgot  his  narrow  Corsican  patriotism,  and 
merged  his  person  and  his  fortunes  with  ths  destinies  of 
France.  We  noted  his  first  great  feat  at  Toulon.  The  four 
short  years  which  lay  between  Toulon  and  Campo  Formio 
had  carried  him  by  rapid  stages  to  the  uppermost  round  of 
the  ladder  of  success. 
Foreign  sue-  After  two  years  of  existence  the  Directory  had  good  rea- 

failiire.  son  to  congratulate  itself.     Belgium,  Holland,  Italy,  and  the 

Rhine  boundary,  sounded  a  catalogue  of  brilliant  achieve- 
ments, and  assured  France  an  unrivalled  position  upon  the 
Continent.  Unfortunately,  the  domestic  situation  continued 
to  give  trouble,  and  the  country  still  bled  from  the  wounds 
inflicted  by  the  fierce  feuds  of  the  past  years.  The  Church 
question  was  no  nearer  solution,  the  royalists  were  gaining 
strength,  and  the  finances  were  in  hopeless  confusion.  The 
value  of  the  paper  money  (assignats),  on  account  of  reckless 
multiplication,  could  not  be  kept  up,  and  when  it  had  shrunk 
to  almost  nothing,  the  Directory  wiped  the  whole  issue  out 
of  existence  by  the  stroke  of  a  pen.  That  act  meant  bank- 
ruptcy and  the  paralysis  of  business.  Doubtless  the  wisest 
measure  would  have  been  to  make  peace  and  give  France  a 
chance  to  breathe.  But  the  Directory  had  a  different  idea  and 
chose  to  withdraw  attention  from  domestic  woes  by  throwing 
itself  upon  the  last  remaining  foreign  enemy,  England. 
France  at-  For  the  year  1708  the  government  planned  a  great  action 

tacks  England      .  ,  \     .     '^^      ,      °  ,       ,      ,      ,       r       n     . 

in  Egypt.  m  order  to  brmg  England  to  terms.    As  the  lack  01  a  fleet 

put  a  direct  attack  upon  the  island-kingdom  out  of  the 
question,  it  was  resolved  to  strike  at  England  indirectly  by 
threatening  its  colonies.  With  due  secrecy  an  expedition 
was  prepared  at  Toulon,  and  Bonaparte  given  the  command. 
Nelson,  the  English  admiral,  was,  of  course,  on  the  outlook, 
but  Bonaparte  succeeded  in  evading  his  vigilance,  and  in 
starting  unmolested  for  Egypt  (May,  1798).  Egypt  was  a 
province  of  Turkey  and  the  key  to  the  east.     By  estab- 


The  French  Revolution  387 

lishing  himself  on  the  Nile,  Bonaparte  calculated  that  he 
could  sever  the  connection  of  England  with  India  and  the 
Orient.  Nelson  gave  chase  as  soon  as  he  got  wind  of  the 
movements  of  the  French,  and  although  he  arrived  too  late 
to  hinder  them  from  landing  near  Alexandria,  he  just  as 
effectually  ruined  their  expedition  when  on  August  ist  he 
attacked  and  destroyed  their  fleet  at  Abukir  Bay.  Bonaparte 
might  now  go  on  conquering  Egypt  and  all  Africa — he  was 
shut  off  from  Europe  and  as  good  as  imprisoned  with  his 
whole  army. 

Thus  the  Egyptian  campaign  was  lost  before  it  had  fairly  Bonaparte 
begun.  Bonaparte  could  blind  his  soldiers  to  the  fact  but 
he  hardly  blinded  himself.  Of  course  he  did  what  he  could 
to  retrieve  the  disaster  to  his  fleet.  By  his  victory  over  the 
Egyptian  soldiery,  the  Mamelukes,  in  the  battle  of  the  Pyra- 
mids (1798),  he  made  himself  master  of  the  basin  of  the  Nile, 
and  in  the  next  year  marched  to  Syria.  The  seaport  of  Acre, 
which  he  besieged  in  order  to  establish  communication  with 
France,  repulsed  his  attack,  while  the  plague  decimated  his 
brave  troops.  Sick  at  heart  Bonaparte  returned  to  Egypt, 
and  despairing  of  a  change  in  his  fortunes,  suddenly  resolved 
to  desert  his  army.  Contriving  to  run  the  English  blockade, 
he  landed  on  October  9,  1799,  with  a  few  friends,  on  the 
southern  coast  of  France.  Though  the  army  he  had  de- 
serted was  irretrievably  lost,^  that  fact  was  forgotten  amid 
the  rejoicings  over  the  return  of  the  national  hero. 

The  enthusiastic  welcome  of  France,  which  turned  Bona-  The  Second 

_,      .     .  •  1     1  •  1  Coalition, 

parte  s  journey  to  Pans  mto  a  triumphal  procession,  was  due  j^^s,  1799. 
partially  to  the  new  dangers  to  which  the  country  had  been 
exposed  during  his  absence.  Bonaparte  was  hardly  known 
to  have  been  shut  up  in  Egypt,  when  Europe,  hopeful  of 
shaking  off  the  French  ascendancy,  formed  a  new  coalition 
against  the  hated  republic.     Austria  and  Russia,  supported 

'  The  army  surrendered  to  the  EngHsh  in  1801. 


388 


The  French  Revolution 


The  French 
public  is 
weary  of 
revolution. 


Bonaparte 
overthrows  the 
Directory, 
November, 
1799. 


by  English  money,  renewed  the  war,  and  the  year  1799  was 
marked  by  a  succession  of  victories  which  swept  the  French 
out  of  Italy  and  Germany.  At  the  time  when  Bonaparte 
made  his  appearance  in  Europe,  an  invasion  of  France  had 
narrowly  been  averted  by  the  heroism  of  General  Massena 

No  wonder  that  the  hopes  of  the  nation  gathered  around 
the  dashing  military  leader.  What  other  French  general 
had  exhibited  such  genius  as  Bonaparte,  had  won  such 
glory  for  himself  and  France?  Moreover,  after  the  cease- 
less agitations  of  ten  years  people  were  tired  to  death  of 
revolution,  the  party  spirit,  and  the  continued  uncertainty 
of  all  social  relations.  The  Directory  had  made  matters 
worse  by  going  into  national  bankruptcy.  Discontent  was 
so  general  that  optimistic  royalists  predicted  the  early  return 
of  the  legitimate  king.  In  short,  France  was  in  hopeless 
confusion,  and  everybody  turned  spontaneously  to  Bona- 
parte as  toward  a  saviour. 

The  general  was  hardly  apprised  of  this  state  of  public 
opinion,  when  he  resolved  to  act.  With  the  aid  of  some 
conspirators  in  power  and  urged  by  public  opinion,  he  over- 
threw  the  government.  The  only  resistance  was  made  by 
the  Chamber  of  Five  Hundred,  which  he  overawed  by  mill- 
tary  force.  The  ease  with  which  the  coup  d'etat  of  Novem- 
ber  9,  1799  (i8th  Brumaire),  was  executed  proves  that  the 
Constitution  of  the  Year  III.  was  dead  in  spirit  before  Bona- 
parte destroyed  it  in  fact. 


A  new  con- 
stitution. 


The  Consulate  (i 799-1804). 

Bonaparte  was  now  free  to  set  up  a  new  constitution,  \x\ 
which  an  important  place  should  be  assured  to  himself. 
Rightly  he  divined  that  what  France  needed  and  desired 
was  a  strong  executive,  for  ten  years  of  anarchic  liberty  had 
prepared  the  people  for  the  restoration  of  order.     The  result 


The  French  Revolution  389 

of  Bonaparte's  deliberations  with  his  friends  was  the  Con- 
sular Constitution,  called  the  Constitution  of  the  Year  VIII., 
by  which  the  government  was  practically  concentrated  in  the 
hands  of  one  oflScial,  called  the  First  Consul.  Of  course,  to 
hoodwink  democratic  enthusiasts  the  appearances  of  popular 
government  were  preserved.  The  legislative  functions  were 
reserved  to  two  bodies,  the  Tribunate  and  the  Legislative 
Body,  but  as  the  former  discussed  bills  without  voting  upon 
them,  and  the  latter  merely  voted  upon  them  without  dis- 
cussing them,  their  power  was  so  divided  that  they  necessa- 
rily lost  all  influence.  Without  another  coup  d'etat,  by  means 
of  a  simple  change  of  title,  the  Consul  Bonaparte  could, 
when  he  saw  fit,  evolve  himself  into  the  Emperor  Napoleon, 
who  would  govern  France  as  its  absolute  master. 

But  for  the  present  there  was  more  urgent  business  on  Bonaparte 
hand.  As  France  was  at  war  with  the  Second  CoaHtion,  jgoo_ 
there  was  work  to  be  done  in  the  field.  The  opportune 
withdrawal  of  Russia  before  the  beginning  of  the  campaign, 
again  limited  the  enemies  of  France  to  England  and  Aus- 
tria. The  situation  was  therefore  analogous  to  that  of 
1796,  and  the  First  Consul  resolved  to  meet  it  by  an  analo- 
gous plan.  Neglecting  England  as  inaccessible,  and  con- 
centrating his  attention  upon  Austria,  he  sent  Moreau 
against  her  into  Germany,  while  he  himself  went  again  to 
meet  her  in  Italy.  By  a  strenuous  and  picturesque  march 
*n  the  early  spring  over  the  great  St.  Bernard  Pass,  a  feat 
Afhich  rivalled  the  performance  of  the  great  Hannibal,  he 
was  enabled  to  strike  unexpectedly  across  the  Austrian  line 
of  retreat  and  force  the  enemy  to  make  a  stand.  In  the 
battle  of  Marengo,  which  followed  (June  14,  1800),  he 
crushed  the  Austrians,  and  recovered  all  Italy  at  a  stroke. 
Again  Francis  II.  had  to  admit  the  invincibility  of  French 
arms.     In  the  Peace  of  Luneville  (1801)  he  reconfirmed  all   ^^^^f°i 

'  Luneville, 

the  cessions  made  at  Campo  Formio,  and  as  the  Empire   1801. 


390  J^^^<^  I^rctich  Revolution 

became  a  party  to  the  treaty,  there  was  now  no  possible 
defect  in  the  cession  of  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine.  It  is 
this  feature  of  the  Rhine  boundary  which  gives  the  Peace  of 
Luneville  its  importance.  As  the  treaty,  furthermore, 
redelivered  Italy  into  Bonaparte's  hands,  he  now  re- 
established the  Cisalpine  and  Ligurian  republics  in  their 
old  dependence  upon  France. 
Peace  with  Again,  as  in  1798,  the  only  European  state  which  held  out 

1802.     '  against   France  was  England.     How  reduce  the  great  sea- 

power  to  peace?  Bonaparte's  naval  resources  were  as  in- 
adequate now  as  ever,  and  as  for  striking  at  the  colonies,  the 
recollection  of  Egypt  quickly  disposed  of  the  idea.  Sated  for 
the  time  with  success  and  glory,  he  opened  negotiations 
with  the  cabinet  at  London,  and  in  March,  1S02,  concluded 
with  England,  substantially  on  the  basis  of  mutual  restitu- 
tions, the  Peace  of  Amiens. 
France  at  After  ten  years  of  fighting,  France  was  now  at  peace  with 

the  world.  the  world.     The  moment  was  auspicious,  but  it  remained  to 

be  seen  whether  she  could  take  up  the  labors  of  peace,  and 
while  healing  her  many  wounds,  remove  the  apprehension 
with  which  defeated  Europe  regarded  her. 
Bonaparte  Certainly  the  First  Consul  showed  no  want  of  vigor  in 

reconstruction    attacking  the  domestic  situation,  though  the  picture  which 
of  France.  unrolled   itself   before    his    eves  was  frightful.     After   the 

wholesale  destruction  and  careless  experimentation  of  the 
last  decade,  France  needed,  above  all,  a  season  of  construc- 
tive statesmanship.  Not  that  the  Revolution  had  not  scat- 
tered seeds  in  plenty,  but  the  harvest  had  not  been  awaited 
with  patience.  The  work  before  the  First  Consul  during  the 
interval  of  peace  which  followed  the  treaties  of  Luneville 
and  Amiens  was,  therefore,  nothing  less  than  the  recon- 
struction of  the  whole  social  order.  He  shouldered  his 
responsibilities  with  his  usual  ardor.  In  a  public  proclama- 
tion he  announced  that  the  disturbances  were  now  over 


The  French  Revolution  391 


and  that  he  considered  it  his  special  task  to  "close"  the 

Revolution  and  to  "consolidate"  its  results. 

One  of  his  first  cares  was  to  bring  back  material  prosperity.  Return  of 

J      L   1        prospenty 
The  national  bankruptcy  of  the  Directory  now  proved  a  help, 

for  by  wiping  out  the  worthless  paper  money,  it  enabled 
the  new  ruler  to  make  a  fresh  start.  With  the  currency  re- 
stored, confidence  again  began  to  prevail  in  business  circles, 
and  industry  and  commerce  quickly  recovered  from  their 
long  depression.  Surely  the  country  had  reason  to  boast  of 
its  "man  of  destiny."  Sustained  by  an  unexampled  popu- 
larity, the  First  Consul  now  undertook  to  create  a  number 
of  fundamental  institutions,  which,  in  spite  of  all  the  revo- 
lutions of  the  nineteenth  century,  exist,  in  the  main,  to  this 
day,  and  are  his  best  title  to  fame.  Let  us  give  these  insti- 
tutions a  brief  consideration. 
The  internal  administration  of  France  had,  during  the  Anewcen- 

,  .  trahzed  ad- 

Revolution,  fallen  mto  complete  anarchy,      ihe  constitu-   ministration. 

tion  of  1 79 1  had  divided  France  into  eighty-three  depart- 
ments, and  had  supplanted  the  old  centralized  administra- 
tion of  royal  appointees  by  a  system  of  local  self-government. 
Practically  every  office  was  made  elective,  requiring  a  polit- 
ical activity  of  which  the  voters,  unaccustomed  to  the  exercise 
of  such  duties,  became  weary.  They  refused  to  attend  the 
polls  and  permitted  the  power  to  drift  into  the  hands  of  a 
few  professional  politicians.  Even  under  the  Terror  the 
system  had  been  given  up,  and  now  with  Bonaparte's 
advent  a  deliberate  return  was  made  to  the  traditional  policy 
of  centralized  control.  Over  every  department  was  put  a 
prefect,  appointed  by  the  First  Consul  and  reporting  back 
to  him.  By  this  means  the  whole  country  was  kept  in  the 
hands  of  the  chief  executive.  With  his  wonderful  sense  of 
precision,  Bonaparte  so  perfected  his  system  that  no  mon- 
arch by  Divine  Right  has  ever  in  an  equal  degree  made  his 
will  felt  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  his  dominion. 


392 


The  French  Revolutioti 


T  he  religious 
tangle. 


The  Con- 
cordat. 


The  new 

judicial 

system. 


Democracy,  the  will-o'-the-wisp  pursued  through  blood  and 
fire  for  ten  agitated  years,  was  sacrificed,  but  the  weary 
people  were  content  for  the  present  with  the  order  and 
security  assured  by  the  new  administration. 

Religion  lay  in  a  similarly  hopeless  tangle,  owing  to  the 
persistent  attacks  of  the  Revolution  upon  the  Catholic 
Church.  A  beginning  had  been  made  in  1789  by  the  con- 
fiscation of  its  property,  followed  in  1790  by  the  famous 
Constitution  of  the  Clerg}',  by  which  the  priests  and  bishops 
were  reduced  to  the  level  of  paid  civil  servants  of  the  state. 
Against  this  measure  the  Church  revolted,  creating  a  relig- 
ious chaos  which  led  to  the  persecution  and  wholesale 
slaughter  of  orthodox  priests  and  was  diversified  by  such 
extravagant  episodes  as  the  worship  of  Reason  and  Robes- 
pierre's cult  of  the  Supreme  Being.  But  in  spite  of  banish- 
ment and  guillotine,  Catholicism  at  the  dawning  of  the  new 
century  was  still  alive.  Bonaparte  himself  possessed  no 
positive  religious  views,  but  he  had  a  splendid  sense  of 
reality  and  divined  the  superior  vigor  of  the  persecuted  faith. 
He  had  also  a  clear  appreciation  of  the  support  which  the 
reconstituted  Church  could  furnish  his  reorganized  state., 
and  presently  entered  into  negotiations  with  Rome.  The 
result  was  a  treaty  of  peace,  called  the  Concordat  (1801) : 
the  Church  resigned  its  claim  to  its  confiscated  estates,  and 
the  state  undertook  the  maintenance,  on  a  liberal  basis,  of 
priests  and  bishops;  these  latter  were  to  be  nominated  by 
the  state  and  confirmed  by  the  Pope.  Thus,  if  the  Church 
was  reestablished,  it  was  henceforth  reduced  to  a  close  de- 
pendence on  the  state. 

With  administration  and  religion  cared  for,  Bonaparte 
gave  his  attention  to  the  department  of  justice.  The  legal 
confusion  reigning  in  France  before  the'  Revolution  is  in- 
describable, for  everything  had  been  left  to  chance,  and  rad- 
ically different  systems  of  law  were  often  in  force  in  the  vari- 


The  French  Revolution  393 


ous  sections  of  the  country,  or  even  in  the  same  province. 
The  Revolution  had  made  an  attempt  to  straighten  out  the 
confusion,  but  had  not  got  far  when  Bonaparte  came  to 
power.  With  his  usual  energy  he  soon  had  a  commission 
of  experts  at  work  upon  the  creation  of  a  uniform  system, 
and  in  1804  he  was  enabled  to  publish  the  result  of  their 
labors  in  the  Civil  Code,  called  afterward  the  Code  Napo- 
leon. No  labor  of  similar  scope  had  been  undertaken  since 
the  days  of  Justinian.  The  Roman  law  was  made  the  basis 
of  the  Napoleonic  code,  with  such  modifications  as  the  prog- 
ress of  the  centuries  and  the  principles  of  the  French  Rev- 
olution made  inevitable. 

Bonaparte  also  planned  a  general  system  of  state  educa-  Bonaparte 

.     .  ...  1  1       n  ^  at  the  parting 

tion,  consistmg  of  the  primary,  secondary,  and  college  stages,  of  the  ways. 
but  he  did  not  get  far  with  his  project,  and  the  regulation  of 
school  affairs,  above  all,  the  creation  of  a  system  of  popular 
education,  had  to  wait  for  more  auspicious  times.  From 
what  has  been  said,  however,  some  idea  can  be  gained  of  his 
constructive  a,nd  methodizing  genius.  It  is  a  noteworthy 
circumstance  that  his  labors  of  peace  have  survived  ^  all  sub- 
sequent revolutions,  while  the  conquests  of  his  sword  have 
been  "swept  in  fragments  to  oblivion."  Bonaparte  as  First 
Consul  stood  at  the  parting  of  the  ways.  He  might  con- 
tinue the  labors  of  peace  so  gloriously  inaugurated,  or  he 
might  return  to  the  policy  of  aggressive  war  lately  closed  with 
the  treaties  of  Luneville  and  Amiens.  We  must  remember 
that  he  was  primarily  a  soldier,  animated  with  restless  energy 
and  spurred  on  by  boundless  ambition,  and  that  civil  labors 
could  not  long  engage  an  imagination  which  embraced  the 
ends  of  the  earth.  Slowly  and  instinctively  this  man,  the 
type  of  the  born  military  conqueror,  turned  his  eyes  from 
France  to  let  them  rest  upon  Europe  and  the  neighboring 


'  The  Concordat  was  lately  (1905)  terminated  by  action  of  the  state 
with  results  which  cannot  yet  be  estimated. 


394 


The  Frefich  Revolution 


Napoleon, 
emperor  of  the 
French. 


continents,  and  girded  himself  for  a  role  like  that  of  Caesar 
and  Alexander.  Therewith  the  Revolution  entered  upon  its 
last  or  Napoleonic  stage,  in  which  France  is  only  the  tool 
for  the  realization  of  the  ambition  of  the  most  extraordinary 
genius  of  modern  times.  He  took  the  initial  step  upon  this 
path  when  he  modified  the  consular  constitution  in  his  own 
interest.  In  1802  he  had  himself  appointed  consul  for  life, 
and  in  May,  1804,  dropped  the  transparent  pretence  of  re- 
publicanism by  the  assumption  of  the  title  emperor  of  the 
French.  The  final  step  in  this  transformation  scene  oc- 
curred in  December  of  the  same  year,  when  in  the  presence 
of  the  Pope,  and  with  all  the  formality  and  pomp  of  the 
ancient  regime,  he  crowned  himself  and  his  wife  Josephine 
before  the  high  altar  of  the  Cathedral  Church  of  Paris. 


Napoleon's 
action  in 
Holland  and 
Italy. 


Kenevval  of  tl-.e 
war  with 
England. 


The  Empire  (1804-15). 

Napoleon's  first  imperial  measure  was  the  appropriation 
of  the  subject-republics  by  which  France  was  surrounded. 
At  his  nod  the  Batavian  republic  bloomed  forth  as  the  king- 
dom of  Holland,  and  thankfully  accepted  Louis  Bonaparte, 
Napoleon's  brother,  as  king.  In  like  manner  the  Cisalpine 
republic  became  the  kingdom  of  Italy  and  offered  the  crown 
to  its  powerful  protector.  In  May,  1805,  Napoleon  crossed 
the  Alps,  and  had  himself  crowned  king  at  Milan.  The 
Ligurian  republic  now  had  no  further  raison  d^elre,  and  like 
Piedmont,  some  years  before,  was  quietly  incorporated  uith 
France. 

Even  before  these  signal  acts  of  aggression  the  confidence 
with  which  the  European  governments  had  first  greeted  Na- 
poleon had  vanished.  Slowly  they  began  to  divine  in  him 
the  insatiable  conqueror,  who  was  only  awaiting  an  oppor- 
tunity to  swallow  them  all.  As  early  as  1803  continued  dis- 
putes over  the  Peace  of  Amiens  had  led  to  a  renewal  of  the 


T)ie  French  Revolution  395 


war  with  England.  Napoleon  now  prepared  a  great  naval 
armament  at  Boulogne,  and  for  a  year,  at  least,  England 
was  agitated  by  the  prospect  of  a  descent  upon  her  coasts; 
but  the  lack  of  an  adequate  fleet  made  Napoleon's  project 
chimerical  from  the  first,  and  in  the  summer  of  1805  he  un- 
reservedly gave  it  up. 

He  save  it  up  because  England  had  succeeded  in  playing  The  Third 

"  •  M     1  r  J         Coaution, 

upon  the  fears  of  Austria  and  Russia  until  they  tormed  a   England,  Aus- 

new  coalition  to  curb  the  growing   power  of  the  emperor.   ^'^'^'    ^^^"^• 

No  sooner  had  Napoleon  got  wind  of  the  state  of  affairs 

than  he  abandoned  his  quixotic  English  plans,  and  threw 

himself  upon  the  practical  task  of  defeating  his  continental 

enemies.     His  military  genius  presently  celebrated  a  new 

triumph,  for  at  Ulm  he  took  the  whole  Austrian  advance 

guard  captive,  and  on  December  2,  1805,  he  followed  up  Austerlitz, 

'^  r         '  ,  .  1    r  1        December  2, 

this  advantage  by  administering  a  crushing  defeat  to  the  1805. 
combined  Austrians  and  Russians  at  Austerlitz  in  Moravia. 
With  his  capital,  Vienna,  lost,  and  his  states  occupied,  the 
Austrian  emperor  was  reduced  to  bow  down  before  the  in- 
vincible Corsican  and  sign  the  Peace  of  Pressburg  (Decem- 
ber 26,  1805),  in  which  he  gave  up  Venice  to  be  incorporated 
with  the  kingdom  of  Italy,  and  the  Tyrol  to  be  incorporated 
with  Bavaria. 

These  provisions  introduce  us  to  a  very  characteristic  Napoleon's 

...  TT      1-  1        i     1  German 

feature  of  Napoleon's  policy  of  conquest.  He  did  not  plan,  policy, 
at  least  for  the  present,  to  incorporate  the  conquered  prov- 
inces of  Europe  with  France,  but  rather,  from  France  as  a 
centre,  to  rule  over  a  host  of  subject-kings.  Especially  in 
regard  to  Germany,  his  policy  was  to  create  a  check  for  the 
great  powers,  Austria  and  Prussia,  by  fattening  the  smaller 
states  at  their  expense.  Therefore,  Wurtemberg  as  well  as 
Bavaria  had  received  new  territory  and  been  raised  to  the 
rank  of  a  kingdom.  He  now  went  a  step  farther  and  pro- 
posed to  gather  all  the  smaller  German  states  into  a  new 


396 


The  French  Revolution 


The  Confeder- 
ation of  the 
Rhine,  1806. 


End  of  the 
Holy  Roman 
Empire. 


Napoleon 
turns  upon 
Prussia. 


union  under  his  presidency.  As  they  had  neither  the  power 
nor  the  moral  stamina  to  resist,  the  world  was  presently  in- 
formed of  the  organization  of  a  new  German  confederacy, 
composed  of  Bavaria,  Wurtemberg,  Baden,  and  in  its  final 
form  of  all  the  states  of  Germany  except  Austria  and  Prussia. 
Of  this  union,  called  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine, 
Napoleon  became  sovereign  under  the  name  of  Protector. 
A  glance  at  the  map  will  show  how  this  triumph  drove  a 
wedge  into  central  Europe. 

Naturally,  the  creation  of  a  rival  German  organization 
coupled  with  the  defection  of  its  component  elements  from 
the  Holy  Roman  Empire  gave  that  venerable  institution  its 
death-blow.  It  had  been  an  unconscionable  time  a-dying, 
and  now  Napoleon,  the  product  of  a  revolution  which  made 
sport  of  tradition,  bade  it  begone.  Emperor  Francis  spoke 
a  last  service  over  its  remains  when  he  resigned  his  now 
empty  title,  and  adopted  in  its  place  the  designation  em- 
peror of  Austria  (1806).  Certainly  no  German,  however 
much  he  might  regret  the  manner  of  its  taking  off,  had 
any  cause  to  shed  a  tear  at  the  passing  away  of  this  de- 
crepit government.  The  stroke  which  freed  Germany 
from  the  incubus  of  centuries  cleared  the  way  for  a  happier 
future. 

But  that  future  was  as  yet  hidden  behind  the  clouds  of  the 
gathering  storm  which  threatened  to  destroy  every  vestige 
of  German  independence.  For  with  Austria  humbled  and 
the  small  states  reduced  to  subservience  in  the  Confedera- 
tion of  the  Rhine,  Napoleon  now  turned  his  attention  to 
Prussia.  Ever  since  1795  (Treaty  of  Basel)  Prussia  had 
maintained  a  friendly  neutrality,  and  all  the  persuasion  and 
threats  of  the  rest  of  Europe  had  not  induced  her  to  renew 
the  war  against  her  western  neighbor.  Even  after  Napoleon 
became  emperor,  the  government  of  Berlin  pursued  an  ami- 
cable course,  weakly  hoping  for   all    kinds  of  advantages 


The  French  Revolution  397 

from  a  close  association  with  France.  But  as  soon  as 
Napoleon  had  disposed  of  Austria,  he  showed  his  true  hand 
and  inaugurated  toward  Prussia  a  policy  of  provocations, 
which  the  obsequious  government  of  the  peevish  king, 
Frederick  William  III.  (i 797-1840),  refused  for  a  long  time 
CO  resent.  By  the  autumn  of  1806,  however.  Napoleon's  acts 
had  grown  so  flagrant  that  Prussia,  to  save  the  poor  rem- 
nant of  her  self-respect,  had  to  declare  war. 

Again  Napoleon  had  an  opportunity  to  show  that  the  old  Napoleon  as 
military  art  of  Europe  could  not  maintain  itself  against  his 
methods.  As  we  examine  these  now,  they  surprise  us  by 
their  mathematical  simplicity.  To  get  ready  earlier  than 
the  enemy,  to  march  more  rapidly  than  he,  and,  finally,  to 
strike  him  at  the  weakest  spot  with  concentrated  energy — 
these  were  the  principles  of  Napoleon's  military  science,  com- 
bined with  personal  qualities  of  hot  daring  and  cool  fore- 
sight which  have  perhaps  never  been  equalled. 

The  campaign  of  1806  brought  Napoleon's  genius  into  The  Prussian 
view  more  clearly  than  any  that  had  preceded  it.  But  if  of  1806. 
the  emperor  won,  his  soldiers  shared  the  honors  with  him. 
For  the  Prussian  troops,  drilled  like  machines  but  moved  by 
no  enthusiasm,  were  as  little  the  equals  of  the  great  national 
French  armies,  animated  by  the  ideas  of  country  and  glory, 
as  the  Prussian  commander,  the  ancient  duke  of  Brunswick, 
who  had  been  trained  in  the  antiquated  school  of  Frederick 
the  Great,  was  a  match  for  the  fiery  young  emperor.  On 
October  14,  1806,  old  and  new  Europe  clashed  once  more, 
and  at  the  battles  of  Jena  and  Auerstadt,  fought  on  that 
day,  the  military  monarchy  of  the  great  Frederick  was  over- 
whelmed. With  a  bare  handful  of  troops  Frederick  Will- 
iam fled  toward  his  province  of  East  Prussia,  in  order  to 
put  himself  under  the  protection  of  Russia,  and  before  the 
month  of  October  had  passed,  Napoleon  entered  Berlin  in 
triumph. 


398 


TJie  French  Revolution 


ne  campaign 
against  Russia, 
1807. 


1  he  Treaty 
of  Tilsit. 


The  humiha- 
tion  of  Prussia. 


Alliance  of 
Nipoleon  and 
S  lexander 


All  central  Europe  now  lay  in  Napoleon's  hand.  Another 
man  would  have  preferred  to  rest  before  continuing  his 
march  of  triumph,  but  Napoleon  felt  unsatisfied  as  long  as 
there  was  any  one  who  dared  brave  his  legions.  In  order  to 
overthrow  the  presumptuous  ally  of  Prussia,  the  Czar  Alex- 
ander, Napoleon  now  set  out  from  Berlin,  and  in  June, 
1807,  won  a  great  victory  over  the  Russians  at  Friedland. 
Then  he  magnanimously  offered  peace  to  Alexander,  and 
to  the  surprise  of  the  world  the  enemy  of  yesterday  became 
the  bosom  friend  of  to-day. 

The  Czar  z\lexander  was  a  young  man  with  a  vivid  im- 
agination, and  when  he  now  met  the  great  Corsican,  under 
romantic  circumstances,  on  a  raft  moored  in  the  river  Nie- 
men,  he  fell  completely  under  the  spell  of  his  personality. 
The  consequence  of  the  repeated  deliberations  of  the  tAvo 
emperors,  of  which  the  disgraced  king  of  Prussia  was  for  the 
most  part  a  silent  witness,  was  the  Peace  of  Tilsit  (July, 
1807).  By  this  peace  Russia  was  treated  with  kindness, 
but  Prussia  was  thoroughly  humiliated,  and  condemned  to 
the  sacrifice  of  half  her  territory.  The  Prussian  provinces 
between  the  Elbe  and  Rhine  were  made  the  nucleus  of  a  new 
kingdom  of  Westphalia  for  Napoleon's  youngest  brother 
Jerome,  and  the  Prussian  spoils  of  the  later  Polish  Partitions 
were  constituted  as  the  grand-duchy  of  Warsaw,  and  given 
to  the  elector  of  Saxony.  Prussia  became  a  secondary  state, 
with  nothing  more  to  boast  of  than  that  she  still  lived. 

The  treatv  of  peace  was  accompanied  by  an  arrangement 
between  Napoleon  and  Alexander  by  the  terms  of  which  thc\- 
cecame  close  allies.  This  dramatic  turn  was  the  result  of 
the  fascination  which  the  western  conqueror  exercised  upon 
the  pliable  and  romantic  Czar,  who  now  formally  promised 
to  join  Napoleon  in  his  war  against  England,  in  case  that 
power  would  not  straightway  make  peace.  In  return  the 
French  sovereign  held  out  the  prospect  of  aiding  Russia  in 


Tlie  French  Revolution  399 


her  projects  upon  Turkey,  and  diverted  his  new  friend  with 
an  imaginative  picture  of  a  Europe  divided,  as  in  Roman 
times,  between  an  emperor  of  the  west  and  another  of  the 
east. 

The  Peace  of  Tilsit  carried  Napoleon  to  the  zenith  of  his  Napoleon  at 
career,  for  with  Russia  as  his  ally,  the  rest  of  the  Continent  hispower." 
was  subject  to  his  will  and  obliged  to  wear  his  yoke.  Let 
us  for  a  moment  with  the  map  in  hand  review  his  position. 
He  held  France  and  the  kingdom  of  Italy,  ruling  them  di- 
rectly and  absolutely,  and  this  firm  nucleus  he  had  sur- 
rounded with  a  host  of  dependencies,  where  subject-sover- 
eigns enjoyed  vacant  and  nominal  honors.  In  Germany  he 
had  created  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine;  he  controlled 
the  Swiss  Republic  under  the  title  of  Mediator;  and  he  had 
put  his  brothers  and  relatives  as  instruments  of  his  will  in 
various  territories,  Louis  becoming  king  of  Holland,  Joseph 
king  of  Naples,  his  favorite,  Jerome,  king  of  Westphalia, 
and  his  brother-in-law,  the  brilliant  cavalry  leader  Murat, 
grand-duke  of  Berg.  These  last  two  states,  Westphalia 
and  Berg,  were  artificial  creations  out  of  the  German  spoils, 
and  were  incorporated  with  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine. 
By  a  succession  of  unparalleled  strokes,  delivered  between 
1805  and  1807,  he  had  humbled  Austria,  Prussia,  and  Rus- 
sia, had  silenced  all  opposition  on  the  Continent,  and  could 
now  return  to  the  starting-point  of  his  imperial  wars,  the 
struggle  with  England. 

This  struggle  is  one  of  the  most  fascinating  and  momen-  The  war  with 
tous  chapters  in  Napoleon's  career.  Adjourned  at  the  Peace  "^  ^"  ' 
of  Amiens  (1802),  it  had  broken  out  again  the  next  year,  and 
led  to  the  armament  of  Boulogne  and  the  plan  to  invade  the 
island.  The  project  Was  hair-brained  while  England  with  a 
superior  fleet  controlled  the  Channel,  and  its  chances  were 
entirely  blasted  when  in  October,  1805,  Nelson,  the  British 
naval  hero,  destroyed  the  allied  French  and  Spanish  fleets 


400 


The  FrencJi  Revolution 


The  Continen- 
tal System. 


The  Continen- 
tal System 
prepares  Na- 
poleon's over- 
throw. 


off  Trafalgar.  Since  then  fighting  on  the  seas  had  practi- 
cally ceased;  Napoleon  might  march  with  his  invincible 
hosts  from  capital  to  capital,  but  his  control  stopped  with 
the  shore.  Undismayed,  he  resolved  now  to  strike  at  Eng- 
land indirectly  by  ruining  her  commerce  and  sapping  her 
wealth.  This  commercial  war  has  received  the  name  of  the 
Continental  System,  and  the  opening  gun  was  fired  in  the 
Decrees  issued  from  Berlin  in  November,  1806,  by  which 
Napoleon  ordered  the  seizure  of  all  British  goods  in  his  own 
or  allied  territory,  and  excluded  from  the  ports  of  France 
and  her  allies  all  ships  hailing  from  Great  Britain.  The 
necessary  supplies  of  colonial  produce,  such  as  sugar  and 
coffee.  Napoleon  hoped  to  have  furnished  by  neutral  vessels ; 
but  the  British  Government  shattered  this  illusion  by  an- 
swering his  challenge  with  the  so-called  Orders  in  Council, 
forbidding  neutral  ships,  under  penalty  of  seizure,  to  trade 
between  ports  from  which  Britain  was  excluded.  This  blow 
called  for  another.  Napoleon  now  determined  on  nothing 
less  than  to  seal  the  Continent  hermetically  to  English  trade 
by  obliging  every  state,  great  and  small,  to  accept  the  Con- 
tinental System.  Prussia  and  Austria  had  already  yielded, 
and  one  of  the  articles  of  the  alliance  of  Tilsit  provided  not 
only  that  Russia  should  follow  in  their  footsteps,  but  also 
that  Alexander  should  join  Napoleon  in  forcing  the  exclu- 
sion of  British  goods  upon  the  few  small  states  which  had 
thus  far  resisted,  namely,  Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Portugal. 
The  adoption  of  the  Continental  System  became  the  turn- 
ing-point of  Napoleon's  career  and  the  beginning  of  his 
downfall,  for  not  only  did  it  involve  him  in  new  conquests, 
but  by  spreading  misery  far  and  wide,  through  the  ruin  of 
commerce  and  industry,  created  a  discontent  which  lost  him 
his  popularity,  and  finally  rose  in  ever-renewed  waves  of 
hatred  to  a  sea  of  universal  revolt.  It  is  well  to  remember 
in  this  connection  that  Napoleon's  astonishing  successes 


The  French  Revolution  401 


were  won  over  old-fashioned,  absolute  monarchies,  only  re- 
motely in  touch  with  their  own  peoples.  In  Italy  and  Ger- 
many the  masses  to  a  considerable  extent  sympathized  with 
Napoleon,  for  he  represented  the  doctrines  of  the  French 
Revolution,  and  his  armies  brought  in  their  train  the  over- 
throw of  such  feudal  iniquities  as  serfdom  and  the  reign  of 
privilege.  But  this  precious  support  the  emperor  sacri- 
ficed when  he  paralyzed  the  economic  life  of  Europe  and 
carried  exasperation  into  every  city  and  village.  Greeted  at 
first  as  a  liberator,  he  was  gradually  cursed  as  a  scourge, 
and  reaped  the  harvest  of  his  policy  in  a  series  of  national 
revolts  which  swept  himself,  his  throne,  and  his  family  off 
the  face  of  Europe.  It  is  of  course  questionable  whether 
Napoleon's  cosmopolitan  empire,  composed  of  many  proud 
and  spirited  nationalities,  could  have  been  fashioned  even 
by  his  genius  into  a  durable  form;  in  any  case  it  is  certain 
that  by  the  Continental  System  he  took  measures  to  secure 
his  own  failure. 

Acting  upon  the  arrangements  of  Tilsit,  Napoleon  first   Invasion  of 
turned  upon  little  Portugal  with  the  command  that  she  seize   jgo^, 
all  British  goods  and  close  her  ports  to  British  commerce. 
On  her  refusal  he  occupied  her  territory  with  an  army,  and 
drove  her  royal  family  across  the  seas  to  Brazil. 

Here  was  brutality  and  violence,  but  it  dwindled  to  inno-  The  weak 
cence  compared  with  what  happened  immediately  after  in  spain  during 
Spain,  for  there  the  emperor  struck  a  friend  and  ally.  The 
history  of  Spain  during  the  French  Revolution  is  a  miserable 
tale,  largely  because  of  the  despicable  character  of  the  king, 
Charles  IV.,  and  the  corruption  of  the  court.  Having  made 
war  upon  the  Revolution  in  its  first  stage,  the  king  had 
as  early  as  1795  signed  a  peace,  which  had  shortly  after 
ripened  into  an  alliance.  For  the  sake  of  his  good  friend 
Napoleon,  Charles  IV.  had  joined  his  fleet  to  that  of 
France,  and  also  for  the  sake  of  that  friend  he  had  sacri- 


the  Revolu- 
tion. 


402 


TJie  French  Revolution 


The  intrigue 
of  Bayonne, 

1808. 


The  insur- 
rection of 
Spain. 


ficed  it  at  Trafalgar.  As  a  return  for  these  good  offices, 
Napoleon  now  deliberately  planned  to  seize  his  kingdom. 
Taking  advantage  of  a  quarrel  between  Charles  and  his  son 
Ferdinand — two  clowns  as  disgusting  as  any  that  have  ever 
masqueraded  in  a  royal  mantle — he  invited  the  pair  to  Bay- 
onne, just  across  the  border,  in  order  to  lay  their  quarrel  be- 
fore him.  There  the  trap  closed  on  them  and  the  two  sim- 
pletons were  forced  to  resign  their  royal  rights  to  the  wily 
arbiter  (May,  1808).  Spain  was  thereupon  given  to  Joseph 
Bonaparte,  who  before  assuming  his  new  dignity  was  obliged 
to  surrender  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  held  for  the  last  two 
years,  to  Caroline  Bonaparte's  husband,  Murat,  henceforth 
King  Murat. 

The  shameless  violence  and  duplicity  by  which  Napoleon 
seized  the  crown  of  Spain  sent  a  thrill  of  horror  through 
the  Spanish  people.  By  disposing  of  them  as  if  they  were 
a  nation  at  auction  he  had  wounded  their  pride,  and  instead 
of  a  peaceful  occupation  he  found  himself  confronted  with 
an  insurrection.  It  was  a  new  phenomenon  upon  the  em- 
peror's path,  and  he  failed  to  read  the  meaning  of  it.  Con- 
vinced, soldier  like,  that  there  was  no  obstacle  which  would 
not  yield  to  force,  he  rapidly  diagnosed  the  Spanish  situation 
as  requiring  a  little  treatment  by  cold  steel.  If  the  Spaniards 
had  met  the  regular  army  which  he  now  launched  against 
them  in  the  field,  it  is  plain  that  their  ineffective  forces  would 
have  gone  down  before  the  French  eagles  like  the  rest  of 
Europe.  But  wisely  they  assembled  only  in  small  guerrilla 
bands,  swept  from  ambuscades  upon  detachments  and  rear- 
guards, and  were  gone  again  before  they  could  be  punished. 
The  summer  of  1808  brought  Napoleon  his  first  serious  mil- 
itary disasters,  and  to  make  things  worse  England  imme- 
diately took  a  lively  interest  in  Spanish  affairs.  Having 
waited  in  vain  for  Napoleon  to  seek  her  on  the  sea,  she  found 
and  seized  this  opportunity  to  seek  him  on  the  land.     In 


The  French  Revolution  403 


the  summer  of  1808  an  English  army  disembarked  in  Por- 
tugal for  the  purpose  of  supporting  the  revolt  of  the  penin- 
sula. When  Napoleon,  angered  by  the  check  received  by 
his  political  system,  appeared  in  person  on  the  scene  (au- 
tumn, 1808),  he  had  no  difficulty  in  sweeping  the  Spaniards 
into  the  hills  and  the  English  to  their  ships,  but  he  was 
hardly  gone  when  the  scattered  guerrillas  ventured  forth 
from  their  retreats  and  the  English  forced  a  new  landing. 

Napoleon  had  now  to  learn  that  a  peoy^le  resolved  to  live   Napoleon 
free  cannot  be  conquered.     The  Spanish  war  swallowed    theSpanUrdE 
immense  sums  and  immense  forces,  but   the   emperor,  as   '^°^"- 
stubborn  in  his  way  as  the  Spaniards,  would  give  ear  to  no 
suggestion  of  concession.     Slowly,  however,  circumstances 
told  against  him.     The  revolts  showed  no  signs  of  abating, 
and  when,  in  1809,  a  capable  general,  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley, 
better  known  by  his  later  title  of  duke  of  Wellington,  took 
command  of  the  English  forces,  and  foot  by  foot  forced  his 
way  toward  Madrid,  Napoleon's  Spanish  enterprise  became 
hopeless.     Of  course  that  was  not  immediately  apparent; 
but  what  did  become  all  too  soon  apparent  was  that  the 
enslaved  states  of  central  Europe  were  taking  the  cue  from 
the  Spaniards,  and  were  preparing  for  a  similar  struggle 
with  their  oppressor. 

In  the  year  1809  Austria,  encouraged  by  the  Spanish  sue-   Austria  tr^es 
cesses,  was  inspired  to  arouse  the  Germans  to  a  national   a  German 
revolt.     But  the  effort  was  premature,  for  as  Prussia  was   '"surrection. 
still  occupied  by  French  troops,  and  the  whole  territory  of 
the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine  was  pledged  to  Napoleon's 
interests,  only  detached  bodies  in  the  Tyrol,  in  Jerome's 
kingdom  of  Westphalia  and  elsewhere,  responded  to  Aus- 
tria's call.     At  Wagram  (July,  1S09)  Napoleon  laid  Austria 
a  fourth  time  at  his  feet.     In  the  Peace  of  Vienna,  which 
followed,  she  was  forced  to  cede  Salzburg  to  Bavaria,  give 
up  most  of  her  Polish  provinces  to  the  duchy  of  Warsaw  and 


404 


TJie  French  Revolution 


Humiliation  of 
Austria,  1809. 


Napoleon 
changes  his 
political  sys- 
tem, Russia 
being  replaced 
by  Austria. 


Review  of 

Napoleon's 
position  in 
1811. 


to  the  Czar  of  Russia,  and  her  southern  districts,  which 
Napoleon  reorganized  as  the  Illyrian  provinces,  to  France. 
It  was  but  a  trunk  shorn  of  its  boughs  which  the  conqueror 
left,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  he  would  have  felled  the 
trunk,  too,  if  he  had  not  been  forced  at  this  time  to  provide 
for  a  complete  change  of  his  political  system. 

The  fact  was  the  Czar  Alexander  was  tiring  of  the 
alliance  of  Tilsit,  which  handed  over  the  whole  Continent 
to  Napoleon,  while  Russia  received  no  commensurate  ad- 
vantage, besides  being  subjected  to  an  intolerable  burden 
by  reason  of  the  Continental  System.  Napoleon  noticed  the 
diminishing  heartiness  of  the  Czar,  and  resolved  to  secure 
himself  against  defection  by  seeking  the  friendship  of 
Austria.  That  state  was,  after  the  war  of  i8og,  in  no 
position  to  refuse  the  proffered  hand,  and  when  Napoleon 
further  demanded  the  emperor's  daughter,  Marie  Louise,  in 
marriage,  that  request,  too,  had  to  be  granted.  That  he 
was  already  married  to  Josephine  Beauharnais  was  a  slight 
annoyance,  disposed  of  by  divorce  on  the  ground  that  the 
union  was  childless.  In  April,  1810,  the  military  upstart, 
for  that  is  what  Napoleon  was  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  drawing-room  and  the  court,  celebrated  his  union  with 
a  daughter  of  the  ancient  imperial  line  of  Hapsburg,  and 
when,  in  the  succeeding  year,  there  was  born  to  him  a  son 
and  heir,  to  whom  he  gave  in  his  cradle  the  sounding  title  of 
king  of  Rome,  he  could  fancy  that  the  Napoleonic  empire 
was  finally  settled  upon  secure  foundations. 

And  surely  never  did  Napoleon's  power  exhibit  a  greater 
outward  splendor,  never  did  his  behests  meet  with  more 
implicit  obedience,  than  in  the  year  181 1.  The  spoiled  son 
of  fortune  had  now  acquired  the  imperious  habit  of  falling 
into  a  rage  at  the  slightest  sign  of  opposition.  He  imposed 
the  Continental  System  with  increasing  rigor,  and  punished 
the  Pope  and  his  own  brother  Louis  with  the  loss  of  their 


Longittide  Eatt  6**    from 


Oreenunch 


60" 


'^ 


EUROPE 

Rt  the  Height  of 
NAPOLEON'S  POWER,  1812. 


A* 


5-' 


1 


4^ 


& 


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F 


^  ""  ''^'e 

E 


tt 


m 


vr- 
1* 


,Oi-tie 


F^tainebleau"^ 


'  Toulouse 


ilarseillesy 


iTuuiu 


"^borrA 


French  Territory  in    Purple 
Dependencies  in  Green 
Allied   Territories   in   Bnff 
Britisli    Territory  in    Pink 
Other  Countries  in  Yellow 


JfASEAN    L.' 

The  M.'N.Co.,Bvfalo,  N.  T.      { 

— ■ ■ T^ 


Longitwie 


-X. 


26° 


,f»\ 


\ 


Luheck  i         -v^ 


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^..^^ 


OiVarsa-w 


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v 


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::fr^ 


Prasuet 


AuWerlitzi. 


\  NOTE  10  THE  STUDENT: 
The  RhJna  boundary,  the 
anoieut  goal  of  French  ambi- 
tion, was  reasonably  assured 
before  Napoleon  came  to  power. 
Observe  how  his  personal  ambi- 
tion leads  to  1)  untenable  con- 
quests and  2)  insecure  de- 
pendencies. Conqutxta :  Hol- 
land, German  Coast  (Hamburg, 
Bremen,  Lubeck),  Western 
Italy  f  Piedmont,  Tuscany, 
Papal  States).  Illyrian  Provinces. 
Dependencies  :  Confederation  of 
the  Rhine,  Duchy  of  Warsaw, 
Helvetic  Republic.  Kingdom  of 
Italy  (Eugene  Beauharnais), 
Naples  (.Joseph  Bonaparte, 
Murat),  Spain  (Joseph).  Allinl 
Stales:  Denmark  and  Norway, 
Prussia,  and   Austrian  Empire. 


10       from- 


Greenwich 


15° 


20° 


The  Fre)ich  Revolution 


405 


Russia,  1812. 


territories  when  they  seemed  to  him  to  slacken  their  vigi- 
lance toward  British  goods.  One  cloud  which  would  not  dis- 
perse was  the  Spanish  rising,  but  that  war,  with  a  little  power 
of  illusion,  could  be  comfortably  minimized  to  an  outbreak 
of  bandits  and  guerrillas.  As  Napoleon  looked  about  en- 
slaved Europe,  he  might  reasonably  imagine  that  now  was 
the  most  auspicious  time  to  put  an  end  to  the  last  indepen- 
dent state  of  the  Continent,  the  eastern  colossus,  Russia.  He 
had  made  a  friend  of  that  nation  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
an  unhampered  activity  in  the  west,  but  having  long  since 
obtained  from  the  alliance  of  Tilsit  all  that  he  could  hope, 
it  had  become  a  burden  to  him  as  well  as  to  Alexander. 

The  breach  between  Napoleon  and  Alexander  became  invasion  of 
definite  in  the  course  of  the  year  181 1.  Both  powers  began 
preparing  for  war,  and  in  the  spring  of  181 2  Napoleon  set 
in  movement  toward  Russia  the  greatest  armament  that 
Europe  had  ever  seen.  A  half  million  men,  representing 
all  the  nationalities  of  Napoleon's  cosmopolitan  empire, 
seemed  more  than  adequate  to  the  task  of  bringing  the  Czar 
under  the  law  of  the  emperor.  And  the  expedition  was 
at  first  attended  by  a  series  of  splendid  successes.  In 
September  Napoleon  even  occupied  Moscow,  the  ancient 
capital  of  Russia,  and  there  calmly  waited  to  receive  Alex- 
ander's submission. 

But  he  had  underrated  the  spirit  of  resistance  which  ani- 
mated the  empire  of  the  Czar.  Here,  as  in  Spain,  a  de- 
termination to  die  rather  than  yield  possessed  every  inhabi- 
tant, and  Napoleon  received  the  assurance  of  the  national 
aversion  in  the  deserted  villages  through  which  he  marched. 
At  Moscow  he  met  with  a  crushing  calamity  in  the  destruc- 
tion of  that  city  by  fire.  Whether  the  fire  was  laid  by  the 
retreating  natives  or  caused  by  bands  of  marauding  French 
has  never  been  accurately  settled. 

Napoleon  lingered  among  the  ruins  of  Moscow  for  some  The  retreat 


.ign 
St 


Napoleon  at 
Moscow. 


4o6  TJie  French  Revolution 

weeks  in  the  vain  hope  that  the  Czar,  unnerved  by  the  in- 
vasion of  his  country,  would  make  peace.  But  for  once 
Alexander  was  firm,  and  the  delay  overwhelmed  the  French 
".vith  disaster.  For  since  the  retreat,  unavoidable  in  a 
country  eaten  bare  of  supplies,  was  not  begun  till  October 
19th,  the  poor  troops  were  overtaken  by  winter  and  buried 
under  its  icy  blasts.  To  the  misery  of  cold  were  added 
hunger  and  the  constant  raids  of  the  swift-moving  Cossacks 
until  the  formidable  Grand  Army  of  the  spring  had  melted 
into  a  few  scattered  bands  of  struggling  fugitives.  Napo- 
leon directed  the  rout  through  the  first  stages,  but  early  in 
December  he  set  out  for  Paris,  realizing  that  he  had 
sacrificed  his  veterans  in  an  impossible  enterprise.  In 
his  absence  Marshal  Ney,  "the  bravest  of  the  brave," 
fighting  like  a  common  soldier,  did  what  valor  could  to 
save  the  honor  of  France  and  the  wreck  of  her  military 
power.  Late  in  December  a  few  thousand  starved,  broken, 
and  half-crazed  men,  whose  brothers  strewed  the  frozen 
plains  of  Russia,  found  refuge  across  the  Niemen. 
The  revolt  of  The  loss  of  his  splendid  army  was,  in  any  case,  a  serious 

calamity  for  Napoleon.  But  it  would  become  an  irremedi- 
able catastrophe  if  it  encouraged  Germany,  long  throbbing 
with  suppressed  rage,  to  rise  in  revolt  and  create  new  com- 
plications at  a  juncture  when  he  required  all  his  strength  to 
repair  the  supreme  disaster  of  his  life.  Unluckily  for  Na- 
poleon, the  German  patriots  felt  this  fact  instinctively,  and 
thrilled  with  the  consciousness  that  never  again  would  such 
an  opportunity  be  offered  them.  They  wanted  a  general 
\nd  national  rising;  but  they  saw  that  its  success  would  be 
oest  assured  if  its  guidance  were  undertaken  by  Prussia. 
And  Prussia,  which  Napoleon  had  trampled  into  the  dust  at 
Jena  and  shut  into  a  tomb  at  Tilsit,  did  not  deceive  their 
expectations,  and  raised  the  standard  of  revolt, 

Prussia  since  her  overwhelming  disasters  had  gone  through 


The  French  Revolution  Afyj 


a  renovation  which  is  one  of  the  remarkable  revivals  of  his-   Therenais 
tory.     Her  king  and  leading  men  had  come  to  see  that  her  Pmssia. 
overthrow  was  the  inevitable  consequence  of  her  backward- 
ness, and  resolved  that  new  foundations  would  have  to  be 
laid  in  a  series  of  sweeping  reforms.    Luckily,  the  state  found 
the  men  to  undertake  the  work.     Stein,  as  chief  minister, 
and  Scharnhorst,  as  head  of  the  war  department,  carried 
through  a  number  of  measures,  such  as  the  abolition  of  serf- 
dom, the  creation  of  local  self-government,  and  the  reor- 
ganization of  the  army  on  a  national  and  patriotic  basis, 
which  gave  Prussia  many  of  the  advantages  of  the  French 
Revolution.     And  with  the  new  institutions  was  born  a  new 
spirit,  unknown  hitherto  in  this  feudal  and  military  state, 
which  bound  high  and  low  together  in  a  common  passionate 
love  of  country.     When  this  revived  nation  heard  of  Napo- 
leon's ruin  on  the  Russian  snow-fields,  all  classes  were  seized 
with  the  conviction  that  the  great  hour  of  revenge  had  come; 
no  debate,  no  delay  on  the  part  of  the  timid  king  was  suffered, 
and  resistlessly  swept  along  by  the  rising  tide  of  enthusiasm, 
he  was  forced  to  sign  an  alliance  with  Russia  and  declare 
war  (March,  1813). 

The  disastrous  campaign  of  181 2  would  have  exhausted  The  campaign 
any  other  man  than  Napoleon.  But  he  faced  the  new  sit-  part.'^* 
uation  as  undaunted  as  ever.  By  herculean  efforts  he  suc- 
ceeded in  mustering  and  training  a  new  army,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1813  appeared  suddenly  in  the  heart  of  Germany, 
ready  to  punish  the  new  coalition.  Life  and  death  depended 
on  his  defeating  Russia  and  Prussia  before  the  Confedera- 
tion of  the  Rhine,  already  simmering  with  revolt,  and  Aus- 
tria, only  waiting  for  a  chance  to  recover  her  own,  had  de- 
clared against  him.  At  Lutzen  (May  2d)  and  at  Bautzen 
(May  20th)  he  maintained  his  ancient  reputation.  But 
clearly  the  day  of  the  Jenas  and  Friedlands  was  over,  for 
not  only  did  he  capture  no  cannon  or  men,  but  the  allies  fell 


4o8  T/ie  French  Revolution 

The  armistice     back  in  good  Order  on  Silesia,  while  Napoleon  had  to  confess 

o  J  una  4    .        ^j^^j.  i^j^  victories  had  been  paid  for  by  such  heavy  losses 

that  to  win,  at  this  rate,  was  equivalent  to  ruin.    On  June  4th 

he  agreed  to  an  armistice  in  order  to  reorganize  his  troops.. 

The  attitude  Both  parties  now  became  aware  that  the  issue  of  the  cam= 

of  Austria. 

paign  depended  upon  Austria,  for  so  delicately  adjusted  were 
the  scales  between  the  contestants,  that  the  side  upon  which 
she  would  throw  her  influence  would  have  to  win.  In  these 
circumstances  INIetternich,  Austria's  unscrupulous  and  jug- 
gling minister,  undertook,  at  first,  the  role  of  mediator;  but 
when  Napoleon  indignantly  rejected  the  conditions  for  a 
general  peace  which  Metternich  proposed,  Austria  threw  in 
The  campaign  her  lot  with  the  European  coalition.  In  August,  1813,  at 
part.^^^  the  expiration  of  the  truce,  there  followed  a  concerted  for- 

ward movement  on  the  part  of  the  allies.  Prussians,  Rus- 
sians, and  Austrians  crowded  in  upon  Napoleon,  who  sat 
ensconced  in  the  heart  of  Germany,  in  Saxony.  Having 
the  smaller  force,  his  outposts  were  gradually  driven  in, 
himself  outmanoemTred,  and  his  concentrated  host  crushed 
utterly  in  a  savage  three  days'  battle  at  Leipsic  (October 
1 6th- 1 8th).  With  such  remnants  as  he  could  hold  together 
he  hurried  across  the  Rhine.  Germany  was  lost  beyond 
recovery.  The  question  now  was:  Would  he  be  able  to  re- 
tain France? 
The  winter  If  the  great  conqueror  could  have  befriended  himself  v/ith 

1814?^'^"  °  the  idea  of  ruling  over  France  alone,  he  might  have  ended 
'the  war  by  the  acceptance  of  the  Rhine  boundary,  which  the 
allies  now  offered.  But  he  refused  to  acknowledge  that  he 
was  beaten,  and  by  rejecting  the  proffered  peace  obliged  his 
enemies  to  continue  the  war.  In  the  winter  they  invaded 
France,  resolved  to  annihilate  him  before  he  had  recovered 
his  strength.  His  defensive  campaign,  conducted  in  the 
cold  of  winter  with  slender  forces,  is  regarded  by  military 
men  as  among  his  most  brilliant  achievements;  but  he  was 


The  French  Revolution  409 


now  hopelessly  outnumbered,  and  when,  on  March  31st,  the 

allies  forced  the  gates  of  Paris,  even  Napoleon's  confidence 

received  a  shock.     As  he  looked  about  him  he  saw  the  whole 

east  of  France  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  while  the  south 

F^as  as  rapidly  falling  into  the  power  of  Wellington,  who  in 

the  two  splendid  campaigns  of  1812   and  1813  had  pushed 

the  French  out  of  Spain  and  was  now  pursuing  them  across 

the  Pyrenees.     On  April  6,  1814,  at  his  castle  of  Fontaine-   ^apoleon 

bleau,  Napoleon  acknowledged  that  all  was  over,  and  of-   April  6,1814 

fered  his  abdication.     The  allies  conceded  him  the  island 

of  Elba  (off  the  coast  of  Tuscany)  as  a  residence,  and  then 

gave  their  attention  to  the  problem  of  the  future  of  France. 

Not  from  any  enthusiasm  for  the  House  of  Bourbon,  but   The  allies  re- 

merely  because  there  was  no  other  way  out  of  the  difficulties,    Bourbons. 

they  finally  gave  their  sanction  to  the  accession  to  the  throne 

of  Louis  XVHL,  brother  of  the  last  king.     As  regards  the 

extent  of  the  restored  kingdom,  it  was  agreed  in  the  Peace 

of  Paris  that  France  was  to  receive  the  boundaries  of  1792. 

This  important  preliminarv  matter  arranged,  a  general   The  Congres 

'.  1     1         TT-  ^•  i.\.       of  Vienna. 

congress  of  the  powers  assembled  at  Vienna  to  discuss  the 
reconstruction  of  Europe.  The  modern  age  has  not  seen  a 
more  brilliant  gathering  of  notabilities.  All  the  sovereigns 
and  statesmen  who  had  stood  in  the  centre  of  public  attention 
during  the  last  momentous  years  were,  with  few  exceptions, 
present,  and  a  single  drawing-room  sometimes  held  Czar 
Alexander,  the  great  Wellington,  the  German  patriot  Stein, 
the  courtly  but  treacherous  Talleyrand,  and  that  master  of 
all  diplomatic  wiles,  the  Austrian  chancellor  Metternich. 
But  before  the  Congress  of  Vienna  had  ended  its  labors,  the 
anti-Napoleonic  coalition,  which  the  congress  represented, 
was  once  more  called  upon  to  take  the  field.  For  in  March, 
1815,  the  news  reached  the  allied  sovereigns  that  Napoleon 
had  made  his  escape  from  Elba,  and  had  once  more  landed 
in  France. 


4IO  The  French  Revolution 

Napoleon  The  resolution  formed  by  Napoleon,  after  only  a  few 

Elba"  months  of  exile,  to  try  conclusions  once  more  with  united 

Europe,  was  the  resolution  of  despair.  It  was  folly  r,n  the 
part  of  ths  allies  to  expect  that  a  man  like  him,  with  a  burn- 
ing need  of  activity,  would  ever  content  himself  with  the  lit- 
tle island-realm  of  Elba,  especially  as  France,  his  willing 
prize,  lay  just  across  the  water.  It  was  equal  folly  on  the 
part  of  Napoleon  to  fancy  that  he  could  thwart  the  will  of 
united  Europe;  but  being  the  man  he  was,  there  was  a  moral 
certainty  that,  sooner  or  later,  he  would  make  the  attempt. 
On  Alarch  ist  he  landed  unexpectedly  near  Cannes,  accom- 
panied by  a  guard  of  eight  hundred  of  his  old  veterans,  who 
had  been  permitted  to  attend  him  in  exile;  and  no  sooner 
had  he  displayed  his  banners  than  his  former  soldiers 
streamed  to  the  standards  to  which  they  were  attached  with 
heart  and  soul  by  innumerable  glorious  memories.  Mar- 
shal Ney,  who  was  sent  out  by  the  restored  Bourbon  king 
to  take  Napoleon  captive,  broke  into  tears  at  sight  of  his  old 
leader,  and  folded  him  in  his  arms.  There  was  no  resisting 
the  magnetic  power  of  the  name  Napoleon.  The  familiar 
"Frt'e  Vempereur!"  rang  through  France  till  the  lukewarm 
partisans  of  the  Bourbon  dynasty  fell  away  from  it  with  fev- 
erish alacrity.  Discouraged  by  the  diminishing  ranks  of  his 
supporters,  Louis  presently  fled  across  the  border,  while  the 
hero  of  the  soldiers  and  peasants  entered  Paris  amid  wild 
acclamations. 
The  Hundrcl  The  Hundred  Days,  as  Napoleon's  restoration  is  called, 
form  a  mere  after-play  to  the  great  drama  which  lies  between 
the  Russian  campaign  and  the  abdication  of  Fontainebleau, 
and  which  ended  with  the  collapse  of  his  empire  of  conquest. 
To  revive  that  corpse  against  the  will  of  united  Europe  was 
hopelessly  out  of  the  question.  Hardly  had  the  sovereigns 
at  Vienna  heard  of  Napoleon's  return,  when  they  launched 
their  excommunication  against  him,  and  converged  their 


Da3S. 


Ifie  ^renc/i  Kevolution  411 


columns  from  all  sides  upon  his  capital.     Ths  issue  was  de-   Opening  of  th. 

^  .1111  Belgian  cam- 

cided  in  Belgium.     There  Welhngton  had  gathered  a  com-  paigr.. 

posite  Anglo-Dutch-German  army,  and  thither  marched  to 

his  assistance  Marshal  Blucher  with  his  Prussians.    These 

enemies,  gathered  against  his  northern  frontier.  Napoleon 

resolved  to  meet  first.     With  his  usual  swiftness  he  fell  upon 

Blucher  on  June  i6th  at  Ligny,  before  this  general  could  unite 

with  Wellington,  and  beat  him  roundly.     Leaving  Marshal 

Grouchy  with  30,000  men  to  pursue  the  Prussians,  he  next 

turned,  on  June  i8th,  against  Wellington. 

Wellington,  who  had  taken  a  strong  defensive  position  Waterloo 

,     1      X-.         1  1         All     Tunei8, 1815. 

near  Waterloo,  resolutely  awaited  the  French  attack.     All 

the  afternoon  Napoleon  hurled  his  infantry  and  cavalry 
against  the  "iron  duke's"  positions  without  dislodging  his 
tough  opponent,  and  when  toward  evening  the  Prussians 
unexpectedly  made  their  appearance  on  his  right  he  was 
caught  between  two  fires,  and  totally  ruined.  Precipitately 
he  fled  to  Paris  and  there  abdicated  a  second  time.  De- 
serted by  all  in  Iv-s  misfortunes,  he  now  planned  to  escape 
to  America,  but  finding  the  coast  guarded  by  English 
cruisers,  was  obliged  to  take  passage  on  the  ship  Bellerophon  Napoleon 
to  be  carried  first  to  England,  and  thence,  in  accordance  to  St.  Helena, 
with  the  verdict  of  his  victorious  enemies,  to  the  rocky, 
mid- Atlantic  island  of  St.  Helena.  There,  six  years  later 
(182 1),  he  died,  a  lonely  and  embittered  exile. 

At  Paris,  meanwhile,  the  allies  once  more  restored  Louis  Second  resto- 

,   ,         ,       ^  ,   _-,        ,       ration  of  Lou' 

XVIIL  to  his  ancestral  throne,  and  by  the  Second  Treaty  x\lll. 
of  Paris,  not  quite  so  generous  as  that  of  the  preceding  year, 
handed  over  to  him  a  France  shorn  of  all  its  revolutionary 
acquisitions. 

The  great  drama  called  the  French  Revolution  was  over.   Looking 
Beginning  with  a  protest  against  the  corruption  and  in- 
iquity of  government  and  society,  it  had  celebrated  its  first 
success  when  it  overthrew  the  court  and  the  privileged 


412 


The  Fretich  Revolution 


Distinction 
between  Na- 
poleon and  the 
Revolution. 


The  enduring 
principles  of 
the  Revolution. 


orders.  Unhappil}',  the  leaders  forgot  that  patient  and  solid 
reconstruction  should  always  go  hand  in  hand  with  wreck- 
age, and  had  permitted  the  movement  to  degenerate  intc 
anarchy.  The  uncertain  domestic  situation  unfortunately 
became  complicated  with  a  war  against  monarchical  Europe, 
which  led  to  the  creation  of  vast  and  victorious  hosts,  and 
ended  by  giving  birth  to  a  popular  military  hero.  Thus 
■he  democratic  forces  created  by  the  Revolution  served  to 
build  a  throne  for  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  Another  might 
have  been  content  with  founding  a  new  dynasty  in  France, 
but  Napoleon  lifted  his  eyes  to  something  greater,  and 
dreamed  of  the  Empire  of  Charlemagne.  That  project  was 
at  the  bottom  of  all  his  later  wars,  wars  of  pure  conquest, 
which  he  conducted  with  unique  success — except  against 
England,  secure  in  her  moated  island — until  his  yoke  caused 
his  victims  to  lay  aside  every  other  question  in  order  to  crash 
him  with  their  united  strength. 

Clearly,  in  the  light  of  this  exposition,  it  is  necessarv  to 
distinguish  between  the  work  of  the  Revolution  and  the 
ambition  of  Napoleon.  The  storm,  which  swept  away  the 
emperor,  not  only  obliterated  every  vestige  of  his  imperial 
creation,  but  threatened  also  to  scatter  all  the  mental  and 
moral  conquests  of  the  preceding  period.  In  the  end  these 
were  spared,  and  happily  spared,  for  if  the  world  had  a  right 
to  repel  Napoleonic  tyranny,  it  would  have  made  a  grievous 
mistake  to  reject  with  the  t\Tant  all  the  blessings  which  the 
French  Revolution  had  poured  out  in  its  first  inspiring 
years.  Naturally,  owing  to  the  animosities  created  by  the 
long  struggle,  everything  hailing  from  France  was  for  the 
present  under  the  ban.  But  much  of  the  good  that  had 
been  done  could  not  again  be  undone.  Certain  principles 
and  ideas  which  had  been  given  a  wide  currency  were  too 
precious  to  be  given  up.  They  have  become  the  founda- 
tions of  nineteenth-century  society.      Among  them  let  us 


The  French  Revolution  413 

select  the  following  for  brief  consideration,  (i)  Social 
equality. — Feudalism,  with  its  system  of  privileges  for  some 
and  burdens  for  others,  was  replaced  by  the  principle  that 
all  men  are  equal  before  the  law  and  have  the  same  duties 
and  opportunities.  (2)  Religious  toleration. — Instead  of 
persecution,  on  the  ground  of  religion,  the  state  shall  hence- 
forth give  protection  to  all  peaceful  religious  associations. 
(3)  Sovereignty  of  the  people. — The  state  is  not  the  personal 
property  of  the  monarch,  but  belongs  to  the  nation,  which 
has  the  right  to  direct  its  own  destiny.  (4)  Nationality. — 
The  people  of  the  same  blood  and  speech  are  justified  in 
coming  together  and  forming  a  national  state. 

Such  were  the  principles  wrought  out  for  humanity  by 
that  vast  conflagration,  the  French  Revolution.  Although 
they  were  rejected  by  official  Europe  in  the  period  of  reac- 
tion which  followed  the  fall  of  Napoleon,  they  found  shelter 
in  the  minds  of  a  few  fearless  men,  and,  communicated 
gradually  to  others,  became  the  leading  forces  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  nineteenth  century. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE   PERIOD   OF   REACTION 

References:  Fyffe,  Modern  Europe  (popular  edition), 
Chapters  XIII.-XV.;  Phillips,  Modern  Europe  (1815- 
1900),  Chapters  I.,  II.,  pp.  14-22;  III.-VII.;  Seigno- 
Bos,  Pohtical  History  of  Europe  Since  18 14,  Chapter 
X.,  pp.  286-305;  Chapter  XL,  pp.  326-33;  Chapter 
XXL,  pp.  648-57;  Chapter  XXV.;  Andrews,  Modern 
Europe,  Vol.  I.,  Chapters  III.,  V.;  Phillips,  The  War 
of  Greek  Independence  (1821-33);  Thayer,  Dawn  of 
Itahan  Independence  (1814-49),  Vol.  I.,  Books  1-2; 
Bolton  King,  History  of  Itahan  Unity  (1814-71), 
Vol.  I.,  Part  I. 

Source  Readings:  Translations  and  Reprints,  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania,  Vol.  I.,  No.  3  (text  of  Holy 
Alliance,  German  Bund,  etc.);  Robinson,  Readings, 
Vol.  II.,  Chapter  XXXIX.  (Talleyrand,  Metternich, 
etc.);  Old  South  Leaflets,  No.  56  (the  Monroe 
Doctrine) . 

The  Congress  The  Congress  of  Vienna,  which  met  to  arrange  the  af- 
fairs of  Europe  after  the  unparalleled  storms  of  the  past  gen- 
eration, embodied  the  agreements  reached  among  the  pow- 
ers in  a  so-called  Final  Act.  Taken  in  connection  with  the 
Peace  of  Paris,  this  document  traces  the  political  geography 
of  reconstructed  Europe.  It  also  conveys  an  idea  of  the 
principles  of  the  victors.  These  principles  have  been  vehe- 
mently condemnsd,  but  were,  after  all,  the  natural  out- 
growth of  the  conservative  triumph.  It  was  felc  that  the 
general   unrest    produced    by   Napoleon's   having    erased 

414 


The  Fcriod  of  Reaction 


415 


boundaries,  toppled  over  old  dynasties,  and  called  new- 
ones  into  being,  should  be  replaced  by  certainty  and  per- 
manence, and  the  surest  method  to  achieve  this  end 
seemed  to  be  to  reestablish  as  far  as  possible  all  the  states, 
great  and  small,  in  existence  before  the  late  disturbances. 
These  states  were  said  to  be  "  legitimate,"  as  against  the 
illegitimate  creations  of  Napoleon.  The  desirability  of 
sifting  the  sheep  from  the  goats,  on  the  score  of  this  distinc- 
tion of  "legitimacy,"  was  first  championed  by  the  supple 
Frenchman  Talleyrand,  and  gradually  imposed  itself  as  a 
piece  of  divine  wisdom  upon  the  congress.  But  while 
"legitimacy"  made  for  the  restoration  of  the  old  dynasties, 
the  great  powers  did  not  forget  to  compensate  themselves 
territorially  for  their  past  losses  and  labors.  Their  hunger 
for  land  modified  the  plan  of  a  restoration  pure  and  simple, 
and  that  plan  was  further  affected  by  the  desire  to  check 
all  possible  future  aggressions  on  the  part  of  the  disturbing 
element,  France.  Legitimacy,  territorial  compensation, 
and  hostility  to  France  are  the  main  forces  out  of  the  inter- 
action of  which  grew  the  new  map  of  Europe. 

The  greatest  interest  at  the  congress  gathered  around 
central  Europe,  as  the  region  which  had  been  subjected  to 
the  most  sweeping  changes  by  the  Revolution.  In  Italy  the 
old  governments  were  restored  with  the  exception  of  the  re- 
public of  Genoa,  which  was  given  to  Sardinia  to  strengthen 
it  against  France,  and  the  republic  of  Venice,  which  was 
given  to  Austria  to  compensate  it  for  Belgium.  This  ac- 
commodation caused  little  trouble  compared  with  the  nego- 
tiations over  Germany.  As  no  one  wanted  to  have  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire  back  again,  it  was  agreed,  in  spite  of  the 
clamor  of  the  German  patriots,  who  favored  a  strong  united 
state,  that  the  German  princes  should  be  considered  sover- 
eign and  bound  together  in  a  loose  federation.  Serious 
trouble  came  when  Prussia  asked,  as  her  compensation,  the 


Its  principle. ' 
legitimacy, 
territorial  com- 
pensation, and 
hostility  to 
France. 


Changes  it 
Italy  and 
Germany. 


The  trouble 
over  Saxon; 


4i6 


The  Period  of  Reaction 


Belgium  and 

Holland 

united. 


Compensa- 
tions of 
England. 


The  rearrange- 
ments of 
Vienna  dis- 
appoint 
national  hopes. 


whole  of  Saxony.  The  right  of  Prussia  to  indemnity  was 
admitted  in  principle,  because  she  had  lost  her  Polish  prov- 
inces, and  Saxony  was  considered  in  some  quarters  as  rea- 
sonable payment,  on  the  ground  that  her  king,  having  clung 
to  Napoleon  to  the  last,  had  forfeited  whatever  claim  he 
might  have  had  under  the  theor)'  of  legitimacy.  In  fact, 
Prussia  and  Russia  had  come  to  a  private  agreement,  by 
which  Russia,  in  return  for  the  Prussian  Polish  spoils,  agreed 
to  support  Prussia  in  her  effort  to  gain  Saxony.  But  Aus- 
tria, England,  and  France  firmly  declared  themselves  against 
this  arrangement,  and  the  conflict  was  not  adjusted  by  a 
compromise  until  both  sides  had  begun  to  make  prepara- 
tions for  war.  By  the  final  agreement,  Prussia  got  half  of 
Saxony,  the  remainder  being  returned  to  the  ''legitimate" 
sovereign.  For  the  part  she  gave  up  she  received  in  ex- 
change a  solid  block  of  territory  on  the  lower  Rhine,  while 
Alexander  acquired  the  grand-duchy  of  Warsaw — with  the 
exception  of  the  province  of  Posen,  given  to  Prussia — and 
converted  his  acquisition  into  the  kingdom  of  Poland,  with 
himself  as  king. 

Between  France  and  Germany  lay  Belgium  and  Holland, 
both  incorporated  with  France  during  the  period  of  French 
ascendancy.  In  order  to  establish  a  strong  bulwark  against 
France  the  congress  consolidated  these  states  and  placed 
them  under  the  rule  of  the  "legitimate"  House  of  Orange. 
The  new  creation  received  the  name  of  the  kingdom  of  the 
Netherlands.  England,  the  oldest  and  the  most  successful 
of  the  enemies  of  Napoleon,  was  paid  in  colonial  territory, 
receiving  South  Africa  (the  Cape),  Ceylon,  Malta,  and 
Heligoland. 

The  most  serious  danger  to  the  permanence  of  these  ar- 
rangements arose  from  the  fact  that  they  disappointed  the 
national  hopes  of  the  Italian,  the  Polish,  the  German,  and 
the  Belgian  peoples.     Let  us  examine  the  agreements  from 


Zmgitude  Eatt    5°  /™»  Ortcnwk, 


Boundary  of  German  Confederation,  thus ; 

Prussia  in  1815,  thus: I  I 

Other  German   Territory,   thus: I  1 


EUROPE 

after  tlie  Congress  at  Yienna, 
1815. 


MEDITERRANEAN 

t 


Zonffituds 


f 


/— ' 


:^ 


.^ 


c^i 


G    a 


NOTE  TO  THE  STUDENT: 

■  The  interesting  creations  ot  the 
Congress  of  Vienna  are  the 
following:  1)  Italy.  Observe 
that  Lombardy  and  Venice  are 
Austrian  outposts.  The  rest  of 
Italy  is  parceled  out  amons; 
manv  rulers.  2)  The  German 
Confederation  does  not  include 
all  of  Prussia  and  Austria.  Itg 
eastern  boundary  is  identical 
with  that  of  the  former  Holy 
Roman  Empire.  .3 )  The  king- 
dom of  the  Netherlands  in- 
cludes Belgium  and  Holland. 


^,K  [N«DOM 
SAJtDINIA 


60 


i(      11)      /rom 


40' 
Tl,r  M.y.  Co.,  Buffalo,  .V.  F. 


The  Period  of  Reaction  417 

this  point  of  view.  In  Italy  the  Bourbon  Ferdinand  was 
recognized  as  king  of  Naples  and  Sicily,  joined  under  the 
name  of  the  Two  Sicilies;  the  Pope  was  restored  to  the 
States  of  the  Church;  the  House  of  Hapsburg-Lorraine  to 
Tuscany;  the  king  of  Sardinia  to  Piedmont,  increased  by 
Genoa;  and  Austria  was  put  in  possession  of  Lombardy  and 
Venetia.  The  lesser  states,  like  Modena  and  Parma,  we 
may  leave  out  of  consideration.  As  no  attempt  was  made 
to  bind  these  states  together,  and  as  the  old  jealousies  hin- 
dered united  counsels,  Austria,  a  foreign  power,  by  taking 
advantage  of  the  inner  divisions,  acquired  an  easy  para- 
mountcy.  The  Poles,  although  treated  not  ungenerously 
by  Alexander,  being  given  a  constitution  of  which  we  shall 
presently  hear,  were  nevertheless  deceived  in  their  national 
expectations  by  the  failure  of  the  congress  to  restore  their 
state  in  its  ancient  limits.  The  Catholic  Belgians  abhorred 
their  Protestant  masters,  the  Dutch,  while  in  Germany, 
though  no  foreign  sovereign  was  imposed,  the  conclusions 
of  the  congress  deeply  offended  the  patriotic  party,  ^he 
German  situation,  being  complicated,  requires  further  eluci- 
dation. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  passing  of  the  Holy  The  Germar 
Roman  Empire  was  an  unmitigated  blessing,  but  Napoleon 
did  more  than  merely  inter  this  august  mummy.  With  his 
unrivalled  genius  for  order,  he  abolished  a  great  number 
of  the  small  sovereignties,  above  all,  those  feudal  survivals, 
the  free  knights,  the  free  cities,  and  the  prince-bishops, 
and  with  their  territory  fattened  the  lay  princes.  As  a  result 
of  this  cleansing  process  there  were  now,  instead  of  some 
three  hundred,  only  thirty-eight  sovereign  states.  These 
may  be  divided,  for  the  sake  of  convenience,  into  three 
groups:  first,  the  two  great  powers,  Austria  and  Prussia; 
second,  the  middle  states,  to  wit,  the  kingdoms  of  Bavaria, 
Saxony,  Wurtemberg   and  Hanover,  with  the  grand-duchy 


situation. 


41 8  The  Period  of  Reaction 

of  Baden;  and  third,  Weimar,  Hesse,  and  all  the  rest,  con- 
stituting the  small  states.  Now  the  national  party,  headed 
by  the  Prussian  statesman,  Stein,  demanded  a  close  federal 
union,  but  jSIetternich,  who  feared  that  a  united  Germany 
would  not  serve  the  interests  of  Austria,  carried  the  day  and 
persuaded  the  German  delegates  to  be  content  with  a  loose 
association  under  the  name  Bund  (Union).  The  Bund  was 
to  transact  business  through  a  Diet  of  state  delegates  as- 
sembled at  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  but  as  the  heads  of  the 
states  yielded  none  of  their  sovereignty  to  the  common  Par- 
liament, it  will  be  seen — and  such  was  Metternich's  plan — 
that  the  Bund,  as  a  means  of  eflfective  union,  was  a  farce. 
Germany  remained  a  mere  geographical  expression,  and  the 
disappointment  of  the  patriots  was  keen, 
he  reaction.  But  there  was  another  sentiment  besides  that  of  nation- 
ality offended  at  Vienna.  We  have  glanced  at  the  enthu- 
siasm over  legitimacy,  a  significant  sign  of  the  widely  preva- 
lent animosity  felt  against  the  Revolution  and  its  democratic 
principles.  The  fact  is  that  Europe  was  swept  in  1815  by 
a  wave  of  religious  and  political  reaction  that  carried  the 
Viennese  diplomats  off  their  feet.  The  evidence  is  furnished 
by  a  document  drawn  up  by  Czar  Alexander,  in  which  he 
pledged  himself  to  govern  his  state  in  accordance  with 
Biblical  principles,  and  which  he  induced  all  his  brother- 
potentates  either  to  sign  or  give  their  assent  to.  This  treaty 
The  Holy  has  become  famous  under  the  name  of  the  Holy  Alliance,^ 

not  by  reason  of  anything  which  the  document  itself  con- 
tains, for  it  is  a  heap  of  well-meant  platitudes,  but  because 
the  name  Holy  Alliance  became  popular  as  a  designation 
for  the  leagued  reactionaries  of  Europe.  In  this  sense  all 
Europe  constituted  the  Holy  Alliance  for  a  time;  but  as 
liberal   principles  gradually   reasserted   themselves    in  the 

'  See  the  text  in  Translations  and  Reprints  (University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania), Vol.  I.      "  It  is  verbiage."  said  Metternich  on  perusing  it. 


Alliance. 


The  Period  of  Reaction  419 

west,  England  and  France  refused  to  cooperate  in  the  sup- 
pression of  democratic  activity,  and  Russia,  Austria,  and 
Prussia  were  left  to  sustain  the  conservative  doctrines  as 
best  they  could.  But  if  the  Holy  Alliance  itself  is  only  a 
collection  of  sounding  phrases,  the  strong  conservative  sen- 
timent of  Europe  managed  to  create  at  least  one  practical 
means  of  expression.  It  was  agreed  that  the  powers  who  Periodical 
had  reorganized  Europe  should  meet  in  congress,  from 
time  to  time,  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the  European 
situation  and  for  "the  maintenance  of  aU  transactions 
hitherto  established."  This  was  tantamount  to  a  declara- 
tion of  war  against  all  favorers  of  change  and  progress, 
and  Metternich,  the  clever  promoter  of  the  congressional 
policy,  presently  resolved  to  use  the  parliament  of  Europe 
for  the  purpose  of  crushing  revolutionary  activity  in  any 
country  as  soon  as  it  arose.  This  is  the  Austrian  chan-  intervention, 
cellor's  famous  policy  of  intervention,  and  congresses  and 
intervention,  not  Alexander's  mystico-bombastic  Holy  Alli- 
ance, are  the  real  tools  by  which  the  reaction  held  Europe 
in  a  vice.  Such  was  Metternich's  authority,  that  he  im- 
posed his  machinery  of  repression  for  some  time  with  the 
consent  of  the  powers,  but  England,  as  we  shall  see,  presently 
grew  suspicious,  and  the  policy  of  shutting  Europe  in  the 
mausoleum  of  conservatism  had  to  be  given  up.  But  Reaction 
summing  up  what  has  been  said,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  con-  ,3^  .,„() 
servative  framers  of  reconstructed  Europe  ranged  against  nationalism. 
themselves  the  forces  of  liberalism  as  well  as  those  of  na- 
tionalism, and  that  from  this  circumstance  the  whole  his- 
tory of  the  nineteenth  century  takes  its  imprint.  Our  sub- 
sequent chapters  are  the  tale  of  the  heroic  struggles  by  which 
liberalism  and  nationalism  acquire  an  honorable  recognition. 

The  first  serious  test  of  Metternich's  Chinese  policy  of  a  Revolution  ir 
Europe  cast  in  an  unalterable  mould  came  wnen  the  Medi-   ■^'''*"'  ''^°' 
terranean  countries  were  shaken  by  a  series  of  revolutions. 


420 


The  Period  of  Reaction 


Revolution 
Naples. 


in 


Revolution  i 
Portugal. 


The  beginning  was  made  by  Spain.  The  fall  of  Napoleon 
had  brought  back  the  deposed  Bourbon  monarch,  Ferdi- 
nand VII.,  who  showed  his  moral  fibre  by  beginning  his  reign 
with  a  perjury.  Although  he  had  sworn  to  maintain  the 
constitution,  called  the  Constitution  of  1812,  and  drawn 
up  during  the  sovereign's  absence  by  the  heroic  defenders 
of  the  Spanish  soil,  he  not  only  set  it  aside  as  soon  as  he 
had  his  hand  once  more  on  the  helm,  but  encouraged  a 
cruel  and  wholesale  persecution  of  the  patriots,  on  the 
ground  that  they  bore  the  taint  of  liberalism.  Spain  fell 
back  into  the  Middle  Ages,  and  the  court,  with  its  corrup- 
tion, and  the  clergy,  with  its  Inquisition,  governed  the  country 
in  accordance  with  their  selfish  interests.  But  disafifection 
kept  pace  with  the  hateful  tyranny,  and  when  in  January, 
1820,  a  few  soldiers  declared  themselves  in  rebellion,  the 
whole  country  almost  in  an  instant  caught  fire.  In  Madrid 
there  was  a  riot,  which  was  not  appeased  until  the  cringing 
sovereign  had  made  his  bow  to  the  masses  by  restoring  the 
Constitution  of  181 2. 

This  Spanish  success  created  imitators.  In'  Naples  the 
fall  of  Napoleon  had  brought  back  another  Bourbon,  also 
named  Ferdinand,  who  bore  a  remarkable  moral  resem- 
blance to  his  relative  of  Madrid.  On  receipt  of  the  happy 
news  from  Spain,  the  army  raised  the  banner  of  revolt,  and 
with  the  aid  of  the  people  forced  the  king  to  accept  for  his 
realm  of  Naples  the  now  popular  Spanish  constitution. 
Nor  did  this  complete  the  tale  of  revolution.  The  contagion 
spread  to  Portugal.  In  the  absence  of  the  royal  family, 
which  was  still  in  Brazil,  whither  it  had  fled  on  Napoleon's 
invasion  in  1807,  a  provisional  government  was  hurried 
into  office  which  tried  to  conjure  the  storm  by  a  profusion 
of  liberal  promises. 

Against  these  popular  movements  in  the  Latin  south 
the  indignant  Metternich  resolved  to  set  in  action  his  ma- 


TJie  Period  of  Reaction  421 

chinery  of  congresses  and  intervention.      But  if  he  hoped  The 

for  unanimity  among  the  powers  for  the  maintenance   of  of'Troppfau 

what    he    called    "order,"  he   soon   saw  his   mistake.     A   and  Laibach 

meeting  at  Troppau   (1820),  called   for  the  discussion  of 

Neapolitan    affairs,  which   from   their   nearness   were   the 

most  pressing,  revealed  that  England  and  France   had  no 

desire  to  share  in  a  crusade  against  democracy.     But  the 

Austrian's  counsel  still  prevailed  with  Russia  and  Prussia, 

and  intervention  was  agreed  on  in  principle,  though  it  was 

not  to  begin  until  Ferdinand  himself  had  been  heard  in  the 

case.     The  congress  was  therefore  adjourned  to   Laibach, 

near  the  Italian  border,  and  the  mendacious  Bourbon  had 

no  sooner  appeared  (182 1)  and  denounced  his  late  liberal 

acts  as  wrung  from  him  by  force,  than  Austria   accepted 

the  commission  of  her  friends  and  marched  an  army  into 

Naples. 

Unfortunately,  the  Neapolitan  liberals  had  not  been  able  Intervention 
to  call  a  strong  government  into  being.  They  lacked  ex-  Naples,  18 
perience,  and  worst  of  all,  by  falling  out  with  the  island  of 
Sicily,  which  asked  for  home  rule,  were  obliged  to  send  a 
part  of  their  army  across  the  straits  to  maintain  their  au- 
thority. The  mere  approach  of  the  Austrian  forces  served 
to  scatter  the  Neapolitan  soldiery  and  break  all  opposition 
to  the  restoration  of  Ferdinand  as  absolute  king.  When 
the  patriots  in  the  Italian  north,  and  especially  in  Pied- 
mont, tried  to  raise  an  insurrection  in  the  Austrian  rear, 
in  aid  of  the  liberal  movement  in  the  south,  Austria 
marched  an  army  into  Piedmont  also.  Thus  Metternich, 
by  the  exercise  of  a  police  power,  for  which  he  found  au- 
thority in  his  own  principles  and  in  the  mandate  of  the 
eastern  potentates,  practically  made  himself  master  of 
Italy. 

This  first  success  only  stimulated  the  appetite  of  the  three 
eastern  courts,  and  when  the  court  of  Paris,  which  had  been 


I 


422 


The  Period  of  Reaction 


Intervention 
of  France  in 
Spain,  1823. 


Question  of 
the  Spanish 
colonies. 


Their  freedom 

secured  by 
Canning  and 
President 
Monroe. 


wavering,  now  came  over  to  their  side,  they  could  take  an- 
other important  step.  At  a  congress  held  at  Verona  (1822) 
they  commissioned  France  to  interfere  in  Spain.  A  French 
army  under  the  duke  of  Angouleme,  the  king's  nephew^ 
crossed  the  Pyrenees,  and  entered  ^Madrid  practically  with- 
out opposition.  The  downfall  of  Spanish  liberalism  was  as 
swift  and  ignominious  as  that  of  Naples,  and  for  substantially 
the  same  reasons.  The  leaders  were  violent  and  inexper- 
ienced, and  failed  to  attach  the  impoverished  and  ignorant 
masses  to  their  programme.  Priest-  and  beggar-ridden  Na- 
ples and  Spain  were  not  good  soil  for  the  Tree  of  Libert3\ 
The  result  of  French  intervention  was  a  second  restoration, 
marked,  like  that  of  Naples,  by  a  cruel  persecution  of  the 
liberals.  The  Spanish  sovereign,  as  revolting  a  combina- 
tion of  imbecility,  ignorance,  and  duplicity  as  ever  disgraced 
a  throne,  now  hoped  that  the  European  monarchs  would 
extend  their  services  to  America.  The  Spanish  colonies, 
embracing  the  vast  regions  of  Central  and  South  America, 
were  in  revolt,  and  Ferdinand  argued  that  to  put  down  re- 
bellion across  the  seas  was  as  holy  work  as  repressing  it  in 
Spain. 

The  rebellion  of  the  Spanish  colonies  had  run  a  curious 
course,  for  it  had  begun  not  with  a  movement  against  the 
mother  countn,',  but  with  the  patriotic  refusal  to  accept  the 
usurper,  Joseph  Bonaparte.  During  Napoleon's  struggle  in 
Spain  the  colonies  had  governed  themselves,  and  acquir- 
ing a  taste  for  independence  had,  on  Ferdinand's  restora- 
tion, declared  their  unwillingness  to  return  to  the  old  alle- 
giance without  some  provision  for  home  rule.  This  the 
stubborn  Ferdinand  had  rejected,  with  the  result  Jiat  the 
colonies,  one  after  another,  had  renounced  the  Spanish  con- 
nection. On  Ferdinand's  appeal  to  the  powers,  the  question 
of  supporting  him  was  taken  up,  when  the  English  minis- 
ter, Canning,  heartily  seconded  by  the  United  States,  put  a 


The  Period  of  Reaction 


423 


quietus  on  the  matter.  Canning  adopted  the  bold  measure 
of  pubUcly  acknowledging  the  colonies  as  sovereign  states, 
and  President  Monroe  went  a  step  farther  by  threatening 
to  regard  any  interference  in  American  affairs  as  an  act  un- 
friendly to  his  government.  The  declaration  of  the  Amer- 
ican president,  made  in  1823,  furnishes  the  basis  of  what 
has  since  been  called  he  Monroe  Doctrine.  The  upshot 
was  that  the  Spanish  colonies  made  good  their  independ- 
ence, and  that  the  leagued  champions  of  reaction,  to  the 
joy  of  the  liberal  parties  the  world  over,  met  their  first  ser- 
ious check.  Shortly  after,  they  became  aware  that  there 
were  regions,  even  in  Europe,  which  they  could  not  control. 
For  with  Naples  and  Spain  won  back  to  absolutism,  logic 
demanded  that  Portugal  be  serv^ed  the  same  way.  But  Por- 
tugal being  on  the  coast  was  accessible  to  England;  and 
when  Canning  prepared  to  protect  it  from  interference  by 
sending  an  army  thither,  the  allies  saw  fit  to  abandon  their 
enterprise. 

Reviewing  the  great  events  in  the  Mediterranean  countries, 
we  observe  that  the  reaction  headed  by  Metternich  won 
some  significant  triumphs,  but  had  to  relax  its  principles  in 
at  least  two  instances,  owing  chiefly  to  the  veto  of  England. 
Such  strength  as  the  conservative  programme  mustered  re- 
sulted from  union,  and  the  defection  of  England  under  the 
direction  of  Canning  showed  that  union,  on  the  absurd  basis 
of  political  immobility,  could  not  be  long  maintained.  It  is 
frequently  said  that  Canning  broke  up  the  Holy  Alliance. 
A  more  correct  statement  would  be  that  England  under  Can- 
ning deserted  the  Holy  Alliance,  and  that,  weakened  by 
defection,  it  was  shortly  after  broken  up  by  another  event  to 
which  we  now  turn — the  Greek  revolution. 

At  the  verj'  moment  when  the  eastern  powers  were  formu- 
lating their  policy  against  popular  movements  at  the  con- 
gress of  Laibach,  the  news  reached  them  that  the  nefarious 


Failure  of  the 
Holy  -•Mliance 
in  Portugal. 


The  reaction 
begins  to  lose 
ground. 


The  revolt  of 
Greece,  1821. 


424  The  Period  of  Reaction 


spirit  of  revolt  had  raised  its  head  in  the  Turkish  Empire 
also,  and  that  the  Greeks,  subjected  for  centuries  to  the  Sul- 
tan, demanded  independence.  If  the  diplomats  of  the  school 
of  Metternich  had  been  accessible  to  generous  impulses, 
they  would  have  applauded  a  movement  which  aimed  to 
cast  off  the  tyrannical  yoke  of  the  Mohammedan  conqueror; 
but,  blinded  by  prejudice,  they  unhesitatingly  laid  their 
curse  upon  the  new  rising.  The  case  of  the  Greeks  was  as 
follows:  With  the  growing  decay  of  the  Turkish  Empire  the 
government  of  the  Sultan,  conducted  by  venal  and  cruel  pa- 
shas, had  grown  steadily  more  despicable,  while  the  Greeks, 
largely  through  the  stimulating  influence  of  the  French 
Revolution,  had  experienced  a  renascence.  Their  language 
and  literature  bloomed  anew,  they  studied  with  enthusiasm 
their  great  past,  and  they  accumulated  wealth  by  almost 
monopolizing  the  commerce  of  the  eastern  Mediterranean. 
Angered  by  the  failure  of  Europe  to  do  anything  for  them 
after  the  fall  of  Napoleon,  they  formed  a  secret  society,  and 
Relation  of  in  1821  rose  by  concerted  action.  The  mass  of  the  nation 
an'd^sta?/.^^*'^'  I'^^d  in  the  restricted  territor>'  of  ancient  Hellas,  but  off- 
shoots spread  in  complex  ramifications  throughout  the 
Slav  populations  of  the  Balkan  region.  Further,  the  Slavs, 
having  been  Christianized  in  the  days  of  Greek  ascendancy, 
belonged  to  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church,  and  their  clergy, 
especially  the  prelates,  were  of  Hellenic  blood  and  speech. 
The  leaders  of  182 1  therefore  planned  to  make  the  revolt  a 
general  Christian  movement  under  Greek  guidance,  and 
were  not  a  litde  disconcerted  to  discover  that  the  Slavs  would 
not  follow  them.  In  fact,  the  religious  predominance  of  the 
Greeks  was  so  unpopular  among  the  Roumanians  and  Bul- 
garians, that  they  loved  their  Christian  teachers  little  better 
than  their  Mohammedan  masters.  The  rivalry  appearing 
at  this  point  between  Greeks  and  Slavs,  and  later  among  the 
various  tribes  of  Slavs,  has  greatly  retarded  the  liberation  of 


The  Period  of  Reaction  42; 


the  Balkans.  In  the  year  182 1  it  threatened  ruin,  until 
the  Greeks,  discovering  that  they  could  depend  on  none 
but  themselves,  bravely  shouldered  the  whole  responsibil- 
ity. In  a  sudden  rush  they  succeeded  in  clearing  almost 
all  of  the  Morea  (Peloponnesus)  and  central  Greece  of  the 
enemy. 

The  Sultan,  boundlessly  enraged  at  this  success,  made  The  Sultan 

'  ,       ,  .  TT-  •        fails  to  suhdue 

formidable  efforts  to  recover  the  lost  territory.     His  armies   the  Greeks. 

penetrated  (1822)  into  the  revolted  districts,  but  failed  to 

break  the  undaunted  resistance  of  the  little  people.     Balked 

of  their  prey,  the  Turks  committed  abominable  atrocities,  to 

be  followed  presently  on  the  part  of  the  Greeks  by  acts  of 

similar  fury.     The  tale  of  mutual  butchery  surpasses  belief, 

and  becomes  intelligible  only  when  we  remember  that  the 

animosity,  usual  between  slave  and  master,  was  here  blown 

into  an  unquenchable  flame  by  religious  fanaticism.     In  the  The  Sultan 

,      r.    ,  r     -i-  1  1  ^-  ru-  calls  upon 

year  1824  the  Sultan,  feeling  the  exhaustion  of  his  resources,  the  pasha  of 
invited  the  cooperation  of  his  powerful  vassal,  Mehemed  Egypt  for  help. 
Ali,  pasha  of  Egypt,  and  the  arrival  on  the  scene  of  this 
capable  and  unscrupulous  ruler  soon  gave  another  com- 
plexion to  affairs.  Using  the  island  of  Crete  as  a  base,  the 
Egyption  forces  penetrated  into  the  Morea,  and  by  1826 
had  made  such  great  strides  that  to  the  casual  view  the 
Greek  cause  seemed  doomed.  But  at  this  point  Europe, 
hitherto  shamefully  indifferent,  interposed,  and  Greece  was 
saved. 

As  long  as  Metternich's  influence  prevailed,  it  was  clear   England.  Rus- 

,  ,         .     ,      ,      ,  1  .,       1       (-    ii  J    J     sia,  and  France 

that  Europe  would  quietly  look  on  while  the  Sultan  waded   ^gree  to  in- 
in  the  blood  of  his   Christian  subjects.      The  peoples  of  jf^/f ^^  J^iVeece, 
Europe,  it  is  true,  in  contrast  to  the  governments^  made  no   1827. 
secret  of  their  sympathy  with  the  cause  of  freedom.    Bands 
of  volunteers,  among  whom  was  the  most  famous  poet  of 
the  time,  Lord  Byron, ^  gathered  under  the  Greek  banners, 

*  He  died  of  fever,  a  martyr  to  the  cause,  in  1824  at  Missolonghi. 


426 


The  Period  of  Reaction 


They  destroy 
the 

Mohammedan 
fleet  at 
Navarino. 


War  between 
Turkey  and 
Russia,  1828- 
29. 


Otto  of  Ba- 
varia is  called 
to  the  Greek 
throne. 


but  such  occasional  help  hardly  delayed  the  triumph  of 
the  Egyptian  pasha.  Finally,  in  1826,  Canning  succeeded 
in  interesting  the  new  Czar,  Nicholas  I.,  who  had  just  suc- 
ceeded his  brother  Alexander,  in  the  Greek  cause,  and 
together  they  agreed  to  interpose.  In  the  next  year  they 
succeeded  in  bringing  France  to  their  side,  and  the  three 
powers  agreed  (Treaty  of  London)  to  end  hostilities  at 
once.  This  resolution,  taken  by  a  majority  of  the  powers, 
and  formed  in  behalf  of  freedom  against  an  established 
and  legitimate  sovereign,  may  be  accepted  as  the  finishing 
blow  to  the  so-called  Holy  Alliance.  The  fleets  of  the 
three  powers  sailed  to  the  Morea  to  inform  the  Egyptian 
commander  that  warfare  must  cease,  and  when  the  outraged 
Mussulman  refused  to  comply,  his  fleet  was  attacked  at 
Navarino  (October  20,   1827)  and  utterly  wrecked. 

The  roar  of  the  guns  at  Navarino  announced  the  birth 
of  a  free  state  to  the  world,  but  the  Sultan  was  not  yet 
willing  to  yield  the  point.  Mistakenly  thinking  that  he 
could  save  the  day,  he  issued  a  defiance  to  his  nearest 
enemy,  the  Czar,  who  answered  with  a  declaration  of  war. 
Thus  the  Greek  struggle  terminated  in  a  Turco-Russian 
war,  in  which  the  Russians  soon  proved  their  superiority, 
crossed  successively  the  Danube  and  the  Balkans,  and 
moved  upon  Constantinople.  In  this  crisis  the  Sultan's  re- 
sistance collapsed,  and  in  the  Treaty  of  Adrianople  (1829) 
he  yielded  every  point  at  issue.  Not  only  did  he  grant  the 
powers  the  right  to  settle  the  affairs  of  Greece,  but  he  also 
conceded  home  rule  to  the  Roumanian  provinces  (Walla- 
chia  and  Moldavia).  Furthermore,  Russia  acquired  a  right 
of  perpetual  interference  in  the  affairs  of  Turkey,  which 
practically  put  the  Sultan  at  her  mercy. 

After  prolonged  discussions  over  the  future  of  Greece, 
the  powers  agreed  that  the  country  was  to  constitute  a  free 
monarchy  and  settled  the  crown  upon  Otto,  a  Bavarian 


The  Period  of  Reaction  427 

prince.  But  before  this  result  was  reached,  Europe  itself 
had  broken  with  the  reaction  by  a  general  revolutionary 
upheaval,  having  its  origin  in  the  old  centre  of  disturbance, 
France, 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  BOURBON  RESTORATION  ^ND  THE  REVOLUTION  OF  ^830 

References:  Fyffe,  Modern  Europe,  Chapter  XVI.; 
Phillips,  Modern  Europe,  Chapter  II.,  pp.  23!-36; 
Chapters  VIII.-IX.;  Seignobos,  Europe  Since  1814, 
Chapter  V.,  pp.  103-35;  Chapter  VIII.,  pp.  229-38; 
Chapter  XII.,  pp.  374-88;  Andrews,  Modern  Europe, 
Chapters  IV.,  VI. 

Source  Readings:  Anderson,  Constitutions  and  Docu- 
ments, Nos.  101-5;  Robinson,  Readings,  Vol.  II., 
Chapter  XXXIX.  (French  charter  of  1814,  reasons 
for  Belgian  independence). 

Louis XVIII.  The  restoration  of  the  Bourbons  in  1814,  and  again  in 

stitution.  1 81 5,  was  the  work  of  the  allies,  for  the  old  royal  family 

was  as  good  as  forgotten  in  France  and  aroused  no  en- 
thusiasm among  the  people.  Its  position,  therefore,  was 
precarious,  and  its  success  would  depend  on  the  wisdom 
with  which  it  used  its  opportunity.  Louis  XVIII.,  the 
most  moderate  member  of  his  family,  made  a  not  un- 
promising beginning  when  he  published  a  constitution  (la 
charte  constitutioneUe),  which  recognized  the  institutions  of 
Napoleon — his  administration,  his  judicial  system,  his 
church,  his  army,  and  even  his  nobility — and  conceded  to 
the  people  a  share  in  legislation  by  two  houses,  a  Chamber 
of  Peers  and  a  Chamber  of  Deputies.  Here  was  the  solemn 
assurance  that  the  restoration  of  the  old  dynasty  did  not 
mean  the  return  of  the  old  regime,  and  that  France  was  to 
remain  in  possession  of  the  social  and  administrative  ad- 
vantages secured  by  the  Revolution. 

428 


The  Revolution  of  i8jo  429 


The  main  problem  before  the  king  was  to  create  con-  Theultra- 

.  .  -r^         1  •  ^•n•      1.   •        •         royalists. 

fidence  and  allay  suspicion.     But  this  was  difficult  in  view 

of  the  fact  that  he  was  surrounded  at  court  by  the  emigres, 
who  had  flocked  back  with  the  fall  of  Napoleon  and  foolishly 
imagined  that  they  had  come  once  more  into  their  own. 
At  their  head  was  the  count  of  Artois,  the  king's  fanatic 
brother,  who  in  twenty-five  years  of  exile  had  learned 
nothing  and  forgotten  nothing.  These  courtly  gentlemen 
thought  chiefly  of  revenge  and  repression.  Selfishly  ani- 
mated with  the  desire  to  recover  their  confiscated  estates  and 
to  restore  the  Church  to  power,  they  compassed,  after  a  few 
ephemeral  triumphs,  their  own  ruin  and  that  of  the  royal 
family.  Their  party  policy — they  were  known  as  ultra- 
royalists — was  not,  at  least  for  the  present,  to  overthrow 
the  constitution,  but  to  insist  on  a  sharp  control  of  the 
press  and  to  insure  themselves  a  majority  in  the  chamber 
by  restricting  the  right  to  vote  to  a  very  small  body  of 
wealthy  citizens. 

Louis  XVIII.,  with  laudable  common-sense,  at  first  re-   Louis,  at  first 

,    ,         ,  ,     ,  ^  ,     ,  .         liberal,  yields 

sisted  the  clamor  of  the  ultras,  but  was  too  weak  to  mam-  to  the  ultras. 
tain  his  position  in  the  face  of  their  continued  pressure. 
The  assassination  in  1820  of  his  nephew,  the  duke  of  Berri, 
shook  him  profoundly.  Although  the  murder  was  the  deed 
of  a  fanatic,  the  liberals  were  held  responsible  for  it,  and 
had  to  yield  power  to  the  ultras  under  their  leader,  Villele. 
Now  at  last  the  party  of  the  hated  emigres  had  conquered 
the  king;  controlling  also  the  ministry  and  chambers,  it 
carried  what  laws  it  pleased,  muzzled  the  press,  limited  the 
right  to  vote,  sent  an  army  into  Spain  to  put  down  revolu- 
tion, and  governed  France  in  a  way  to  delight  the  heart  of 
Metternich.  While  this  party  was  floating  on  the  tide  of 
power  Louis  XVIII.  died  (1824).  He  was  succeeded  by 
the  count  of  Artois,  under  the  tide  Charles  X.,  whose  ac- 
cession completed  the  triumph  of  the  forces  of  reaction. 


430 


The  Bourbon  Restoration 


Charles  X. 
carries  out  a 
coup  (Tdtal. 


The  revolu- 
tion of  July, 


1830- 


The  middle 
rlass  turns  to 
Louis  Philippe. 


Events  now  rapidly  travelled  toward  the  inevitable  crisis. 
The  repressive  policy  of  Villele  raised  him  enemies  even 
among  the  royalist  deputies,  and  the  elections  of  1827 
brought  him  a  crushing  defeat.  He  took  his  dismissal,  but 
the  infatuated  king  clung  stubbornly  to  the  policy  of  the 
past,  only  to  find  that  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  would  nc 
longer  support  him  and  that  the  countr}'  began  to  show 
ominous  signs  of  unrest.  With  the  courage  of  ignorance  he 
resolved  to  break  resistance  by  an  illegal  act,  a  so-called 
coup  d'etat.  On  July  26,  1830,  he  issued,  in  the  spirit  of 
the  old  absolutism,  four  ordinances  by  which  he  practically 
suppressed  the  newspapers  and  still  further  limited  the  right 
to  vote. 

The  ordinances  sounded  a  challenge  which  was  immedi- 
ately taken  up.  Bands  of  students  and  workmen  paraded 
the  streets  cheering  the  constitution;  but  presently  the 
ominous  cry  was  raised  and  echoed  from  street  to  street, 
"Down  with  the  Bourbons!  "  The  king  himself  was  at  St. 
Cloud  and  the  few  thousand  troops  in  Paris  were  not  ade- 
quate to  keep  the  insurgents  in  hand.  Occasional  conflicts 
soon  led  to  a  pitched  battle,  in  which  the  soldiers,  outnum- 
bered and  fighting  without  enthusiasm,  yielded  ground 
until  their  commander  ordered  them  to  evacuate  the  capi- 
tal. On  the  night  of  July  29th,  the  people,  brimful,  after 
three  days  of  fighting,  of  the  old  republican  spirit,  rested 
from  their  bloody  and  triumphant  work. 

In  spite  of  Charles's  misrule,  there  was  a  large  monarchi- 
cal party  of  liberal  tendency  still  in  France,  and  this  party 
now  stepped  forward  to  save  the  country  from  anarchy. 
In  opposition  to  the  street-fighters,  who  were  workmen  of 
republican  sympathies,  they  were  members  of  the  middle 
class  or  bourgeoisie.  In  a  gathering  of  leaders  it  was  decided 
that  what  France  wanted  was  a  really  constitutional  mon- 
archy, and  that  the  person  to  secure  it  was  Louis  Philippe 


And  the  Revolutioji  of  iSjo  431 

duke  of  Orleans.  The  duke  was  head  of  the  younger  branch 
of  the  House  of  Bourbon  and  had  a  revolutionary  record,  for 
he  had  served  for  a  time  (1792-93)  in  the  republican  army. 
This,  and  the  fact  that  his  father  was  the  unsavory  Egalite 
of  Jacobin  fame,  had  opened  an  unbridgeable  chasm  between 
him  and  the  elder  branch  of  his  House.  At  the  invitation  of 
the  moderates  he  appeared  in  Paris  and  by  an  adroit  con- 
ciliation of  the  republicans,  who  had  accepted  the  aged 
Lafayette  as  leader,  took  the  reins  into  his  hands,  prac- 
tically without  opposition.  The  first  business  of  the  im- 
provised government  would  in  all  likelihood  be  a  struggle 
with  Charles  X.  But  the  king  pleasantly  disappointed  ex- 
pectations. In  a  fit  of  despondency  he  resigned  in  favor 
of  his  little  grandson  and  fled  to  England;  but  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  chose  to  take  no  further  note  of  his  acts,  and,  Louis  Philippe 
on  August  7th,  proceeded  to  proclaim  Louis  Philippe  king  French.^  ^ 
of  the  French. 

The  succession  of  the  younger  or  Orleans  branch  of  the  Results  of  the 
Bourbons  to  the  throne,  which  at  first  blush  seems  to  measure  ^^""^  '^^^°^- 
the  whole  achievement  of  the  so-called  July  revolution, 
does  not  express  the  whole  change  which  came  over  France. 
In  the  first  place,  the  constitution  was  modified  in  a  liberal 
sense,  above  all,  by  reducing  the  property  qualification  and 
thereby  doubling  the  number  of  electors;  and,  second,  the 
coronation  of  Louis  Philippe  was  nothing  less  than  a  com- 
plete change  of  system.  Charles  X.  represented  legitimacy 
and  the  old  regime;  he  was  identified  with  the  emigres  and 
the  Church,  and  ruled  by  grace  of  God.  Louis  Philippe, 
a  revolutionary  and  illegitimate  sovereign,  was  abominated 
and  avoided  by  the  old  royalists,  and  in  order  to  secure  his 
throne  had  to  lean  upon  the  monarchical  middle  class.  For 
this  reason  the  July  monarchy  is  often  called  the  reign  of 
the  bourgeoisie,  and  Louis  Philippe  himself  the  citizen- 
king   (roi-bourgeois).      Caricatures    habitually   represented 


432 


The  Bourbon  Restoration 


Effect  of  the 
revolution  on 
Europe. 


The  Belgians 
discontented 
with  the 
Dutch. 


The  Belgians 
revolt,  August, 
1830. 


him  as  a  thickset,  comfortable  grocer,  armed  with  a  huge 
umbrella. 

Meanwhile,  the  report  of  the  revolution  in  Paris  had 
travelled  abroad,  producing  joy  among  the  peoples  of  Eu- 
rope and  equal  consternation  among  the  governments. 
Since  the  work  of  the  reaction  was  so  easily  undone  in 
France,  there  was  good  reason  to  hope  that  the  national 
and  liberal  sentiment,  outraged  by  the  Congress  of  Vienna 
and  persecuted  by  the  mean-spirited  police-control  of 
Metternich  and  Alexander,  might  assert  itself  with  suc- 
cess. France,  ever  since  the  eighteenth  century  the  ac- 
knowledged leader  of  opinion  in  Europe,  had  given  the 
signal,  to  which  her  imitators  and  admirers  everywhere 
joyfully  responded. 

The  first  people  to  be  infected  with  the  new  spirit  were  the 
Belgians.  The  reader  will  remember  that  by  the  Congress 
of  Vienna  the  old  Austrian  provinces  had  been  annexed  to 
Holland  in  order  to  create  a  strong  power  on  the  French 
border.  But  the  union  was  unfortunate,  for  the  Belgians 
were  not  treated  as  equals  but  subjected  to  the  Dutch,  while 
the  fact  that  one  state  was  Protestant  and  the  other  Catholic 
kept  up  a  constant  irritation,  very  cleverly  fostered  by  the 
Belgian  clergy.  Besides,  there  was  the  question  of  race; 
while  a  large  section  of  the  Belgians  were  Flemings  and 
closely  allied  to  the  Dutch,  about  one-half  were  Walloons, 
that  is,  Celts  who  used  the  French  language.  Lastly, 
Flemings  and  Walloons  alike  were  imbued  with  French 
civilization  and  looked  rather  toward  Paris  for  inspiration 
than  toward  The  Hague. 

In  August,  1830,  a  revolt,  begun  in  Brussels,  spread  so 
rapidly  that  the  Dutch  army  had  to  abandon  the  whole 
country  with  the  exception  of  a  few  fortresses.  King 
William,  who  had  treated  the  Belgian  national  movement 
with  much  contempt,  now  offered  concessions,  but  it  was 


And  the  Revolution  of  i8jo  433 


too  late.  Nothing  short  of  complete  independence  would 
satisfy  the  revolutionists,  and  since  the  Dutch  king  resisted 
this  demand,  war  was  almost  a  certainty. 

Here  was  an  opportunity   for  a   typical  Metternichian    Europe  inter- 
intervention  in  behalf  of  the  "legitimate"  monarch,  but  in    onheBeT-  ^ 
proof  that  democracy  reigned  supreme  for  the  moment,  the  8'^"^- 
exact  opposite  occurred.     A  conference  of  the  powers  held 
in  London  decided  to  yield  to  the  will  of  the  Belgian  people 
and  sever  their  lot  from  the  Dutch.     King  William  was 
cowed  into  acquiescence,  and,  not  without  many  difiiculties 
and  delays,  the  Belgians  declared  themselves  a  constitutional 
monarchy  and  elected  Leopold  of  Saxe-Coburg  as  their  king. 
The  boundary  of  the  new  realm  caused  a  prolonged  dispute 
with  the  offended  king  of  the  Netherlands,  but  this  matter, 
too,  was  gradually  disposed  of,  and  Belgium,  a  new  state 
under  a  new  dvnastv,  was  added  to  the  fraternitv  of  na- 
tions. 

In  central  Europe,  in  Italy  and  Germany,  the  revolution  The  revolu 
was  not  received  with  such  enthusiasm  as  might  be  expected,  in  Italy! 
when  we  consider  that  these  countries  had  been  made  the 
innocent  victims  of  the  treaties  of  18 15.  In  Italy  there  was 
no  outbreak  outside  the  papal  states,  where  the  government, 
exclusively  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy,  was  as  unprogressive 
as  that  of  Turkey  itself.  Of  course  the  Pope  called  in  the 
Austrians,  who  quickly  extinguished  the  revolutionary  fire. 
The  fact  was  that  Italy,  in  consequence  of  the  defeat  of  its 
democratic  hopes  in  182 1  and  its  experience  of  Austrian 
omnipotence,  was  unwilling  for  the  present  to  risk  a 
national  conflict.  The  total  result  of  the  year  1830  for  the 
peninsula  was  an  increased  sense  of  enslavement  to  Austria 
and  an  increased  hatred  of  the  master. 

In  Germany  political  activity  had  been  reduced  to  very  Germany  diir- 
meagre  proportions  between  181 5  and  1830.     The  Bund,  as   ifa^ce^of^ 
its  projectors  planned,  was  treated  as  a  nonentity  by  the   Mettemich. 


434 


TJic  Bourbon  Restoration 


Prussia  creates 
the  Zollverein. 


The  revolution 
of  1830  in 
Germany. 


sovereign  states  and  soon  became  a  laughing-stock. ^  The 
only  occasion  on  which  it  showed  signs  of  life  was  when, 
at  the  instance  of  Metternich,  it  adopted  police  measures 
for  bridling  the  universities  and  the  press,  and  hunting  the 
sporadic  democrats  to  their  holes  (Carlsbad  decrees,  1819) 
In  the  middle  states  of  South  Germany — Bavaria,  Wurtem- 
berg,  Baden — constitutions  were  granted  by  the  rulers,  and 
here  all  that  Germany  could  show  of  political  activity  dur- 
ing this  period  took  refuge.  The  two  great  states,  Austria 
and  Prussia,  and  almost  all  of  the  small  North  German 
states,  were,  politically  speaking,  as  dead  as  extinct  volca- 
noes. In  all  this  region  absolutism  flourished  unchecked. 
In  Austria  the  reaction  had  no  single  redeeming  feature; 
Metternich's  hand  seemed  to  have  paralyzed  the  national 
energies.  In  Prussia  the  case  was  somewhat  different. 
The  king  had  indeed  not  fulfilled  his  promise  to  his  people, 
given  at  the  height  of  the  struggle  with  Napoleon,  to  create 
a  representative  government,  but  he  offered  some  compen- 
sation by  a  rigidly  honest  administration  and  a  progressive 
economic  policy.  His  leading  achievement  was  the  Customs- 
Union,  called  Zollverein.  Begun  in  1818  and  completed 
after  patient  eft'orts  continued  through  a  generation,  it  gath- 
ered around  Prussia,  under  a  uniform  tariff  system,  all  the 
German  states  except  Austria,  and  by  this  economic  unity 
paved  the  way  to  political  consolidation. 

This  was  the  situation  when  the  news  of  the  revolution 
in  Paris  reached  Germany.  A  really  significant  movement 
would  have  to  be  initiated  in  the  great  states,  Austria  and 
Prussia,  but  as  these  remained  quiet,  the  outbreaks  in  Ger- 
many never  acquired  more  than  a  local  character.  In  a 
number  of  the  absolute  states  of  North  Germany — Hesse- 
Cassel,   Brunswick,   Saxony,  Hanover — there  were   risings 

'  This  is  the  time  wnen  the  street-boys  sang  Heine's  rhyme:  "Bund,  Du 
Hund,  hist  nicht  gesund." 


And  the  Revolution  of  i8jo  435 


which  were  quickly  disposed  of  by  the  grant  of  representa- 
tive government.  Phlegmatic  Germany,  unused  to  the 
exercise  of  political  rights,  had  not  acquired  the  revolution- 
ary habit,  and  the  sole  result  of  the  year  1830  was  the  estab- 
lishment of  constitutionalism  in  the  small  states.  In  Austria 
and  Prussia  the  absolute  system  as  yet  survived,  though  it 
was  clear  as  daylight  that  the  peoples  of  these  states,  too, 
would  before  long  be  seized  by  the  liberal  current  of  the 
time. 

It  deser\'es  special  notice  that  the  German  movement  of  The  German 
1830  was  not  only  scattered  and  local,  but  exclusively  liberal   JS30  liberal, 
in  tendency,  and  that  no  cry  was  raised  for  a  more  effective   "°'  national, 
national  organization.     The  Bund,  with  its  Diet  of  princely 
delegates  sitting  at  Frankfort,  remained  as  feeble  and  des- 
pised as  ever.     Evidently  it  took  the  national  movement  a 
long  time  to  gather  force,  for  it  was  plain  that  German  sen- 
timent, once  aroused,  would  first  and  without  delay  shatter 
this  travesty  of  a  national  senate.     The  conclusion  to  be  de- 
rived from  the  events  of  the  year  1830  is  that  the  liberal 
movement    in    Germany    was    more    developed    than    the 
national  one,  but  that  both  alike  were  hardly  out  of  their 
swaddling  clothes. 

But  if  the  year  1830  saw  hardly  more  than  storm-signals  Alexander 
in  Germany,  there  was  a  fierce  tempest  to  the  east  of  her,  in  kingdom  o; 
Poland.     We  have  seen  that  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna  the  Poland. 
Czar  Alexander,   to  whom  had  been  assigned  the  grand- 
duchy  of  Warsaw,  converted  it  into  the  kingdom  of  Poland 
with  himself  as  king.     At  the  same  time  he  gave  it  a  consti- 
tution, by  which  it  acquired  independence  from  Russia,  a 
Diet  to  manage  its  own  affairs,  together  with  a  Polish  admin- 
istration and  a  Polish  army.     That  this  was  an  act  of  un- 
usual magnanimity  cannot  be  denied,  but  it  did  not  satisfy 
the  Polish  nation.     The  Poles  chafed  under  the  few  remain- 
ing restrictions  and  could  not  forget    the  time  when  the 


436  TJic  Bouj-bon  Restoration 

parts  were  reversed,  and  they,  and  not  Russia,  ruled  eastern 
Europe. 
The  Poles  The  discontent  was  kept  under  control  while  Alexander 

November  '       lived,  but  Nicholas  I.  had  no  sooner  succeeded  his  brother 
^^•3°-  (1825)  than  the  signs  of  conflict  multiplied.     The  excitement 

caused  by  the  July  revolution  applied  the  torch  to  the  ac- 
cumulated discontent,  and  in  November,  1830,  the  capital, 
Warsaw,  rose  in  insurrection.  The  country  took  the  cue 
from  the  metropolis,  the  few  Russian  troops  retired  with  all 
possible  speed,  and  not  without  surprise  at  the  ease  of  the 
achievement,  the  Poles  discovered  that  they  were  free  under 
a  government  of  their  own. 
Reasons  for  the  Plainly,  the  success  of  the  movement  depended  on  united, 
intelligent  action.  But  that  was  hard  to  obtain,  owing  to 
the  impatience  and  caprice  which  lay  in  the  national  char- 
acter, and  to  the  lamentable  social  divisions.  For  one  thing 
the  landed  proprietors,  being  great  nobles,  found  it  difficult 
to  agree  with  the  democratic  element  in  the  city  of  Warsaw, 
and  second,  the  bulk  of  the  nation  were  agricultural  labor- 
ers, in  a  condition  little  above  that  of  brutes.  Serfs  for  cen- 
turies, they  had  indeed  been  declared  free  by  Napoleon 
(1807);  but  as  nothing  was  done  to  convert  them  into  peas- 
ant-proprietors, they  lived  from  hand  to  mouth  and  were 
worse  off  than  before.  Nevertheless,  recruits  flocked  to  the 
standards,  and  with  next  to  no  training  and  a  very  deficient 
equipment  the  Poles  sustained  a  most  honorable  combat, 
when  in  the  spring  of  1831  Czar  Nicholas  launched  his 
Russian  legions  against  them.  But  mere  valor  was  of 
no  avail;  at  Ostrolenka  (May,  1831)  the  Russians  over- 
whelmed the  Poles  with  their  numbers,  and  a  few  months 
later  (September)  entered  Warsaw  in  triumph.  Thus  the 
seal  of  fate  was  set  upon  the  f.nis  PolonicB  pronounced  in 
the  previous  century. 

AMien  the  Russian  autocrat  again  took  hold,  it  was  with  the 


And  the  Revolution  of  iSjo  437 


j^rim  resolve  to  remove  all  chances  of  another  Polish  revo-  Poland  crushed 
lution.  He  firmly  believed  that  he  had  been  trifled  with  autoCTacy!^''"' 
because  he  and  his  predecessor  had  proved  themselves  too 
kind.  He  would  not  err  in  that  way  any  more.  He  began 
by  abrogating  Alexander's  constitution  and  merging  Poland 
with  Russia  as  a  Russian  province.  Then  he  carried  through 
a  succession  of  measures  which  aimed  to  break  the  rebel- 
lious spirit  of  the  Poles:  a  Russian  army  of  occupation  was 
saddled  on  the  country;  Russian  was  made  the  official  lan- 
guage; the  press  was  put  under  supervision;  and  most  of  the 
educational  institutions  were  closed.  Poland  fell  into  a  sad 
eclipse.  Bound  and  gagged  she  lny  at  the  feet  of  Russia, 
but  as  long  as  there  was  life  her  people  were  determined  to 
cling  to  their  national  memories.  And  they  have  clung  to 
them  to  this  day. 

Reviewincy  the  effects  of  the  revolution  of  1830  throughout   Results  of  the 

,  ,  ,      .        r      •.  i   -T         r    revolution  of 

Europe,  we  may  assert  that  though  its  fruits,  outside  ot  ,830. 
France  and  Belgium,  were  small,  a  new  era  had  struggled 
into  being.  The  liberal  platform,  inspired  by  the  faith  that 
nationality  should  be  respected  and  that  political  control 
belongs  not  to  the  monarchs  but  to  the  peoples,  had  directed 
universal  attention  to  itself  and  could  never  again  be  treated 
as  a  trifle.  The  best  the  old  reactionaries  like  Metternich 
could  do  from  now  on  was  to  delay  the  coming  of  the 
dawn;  they  could  not  bring  back  the  chains  and  darkness  of 
the  period  of  congresses  and  intervention. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE    GOVERNMENT    OF    LOUIS    PHILIPPE  (183O-48)  AND  THE 
REVOLUTION  OF  1 848 

References:  Fyffe,  Modern  Europe,  Chapter  XVI.,  pp. 
641-44;  Chapter  XVIII.,  pp.  699-706;  Phillips,  Mod- 
ern Europe,  Chapter  XI.,  pp.  256-72;  Seignobos, 
Europe  Shice  1814,  Chapter  V.,  pp.  134-52;  Chapter 
VI.,  pp.  155-65;  Andrews,  Modern  Europe,  Chapters 
VII.-VIII. 

Source  Readings:  Robinson,  Readings,  Vol.  II.,  Chapter 
XL.  (Overthrow  of  Louis  Philippe) ;  Anderson,  Con- 
stitutions and  Documents,  Nos.  106-10. 

Louis  Philippe  We  have  seen  that  Louis  Philippe,  called  to  the  throne 
by  uie*middle  ^Y  the  revolution  of  July,  was  by  the  nature  of  the  case 
^'^^-  obliged  to  found  his  power  upon  the  monarchical  section 

of  the  people,  the  middle  class.  It  was  unfortunate  that 
the  revolution  had  not  been  made  by  this  class,  but  by 
republican  workingmen,  who  ever  afterward  felt  that  they 
had  been  cheated  of  their  labor,  and  immediately  drifted  into 
an  embittered  opposition.  Thus  Louis  Philippe  became, 
whether  he  would  or  no,  the  head,  not  of  the  nation,  but  of 
one  of  its  social  divisions,  and  this  is  the  really  significant 
feature  of  his  reign.  The  name  citizen-king  describes  not 
only  his  position,  but  also  his  character.  He  abandoned  the 
traditional  royal  pomp,  exhibited  an  easy  good-fellowship, 
lived  simply  with  his  numerous  family,  and  at  every  crisis 
fell  back  on  his  native  thrift  and  obstinacy,  characteristic 
qualities  which  he  shared  with  his  middle-class  supporters. 

4.^8 


TJic  Revolution  of  184.8  439 

The  monarchy  of  the  bourgeoisie  never  had  a  day  of  Legitimists, 
absolute  security.  Its  two  most  persistent  enemies  were  sociaLste!"^' 
the  legitimists  and  the  republicans.  The  legitimists,  de- 
voted to  the  elder  Bourbon  branch,  were  constantly  stirring 
up  opposition,  but  apart  from  one  outbreak  in  that  home  of 
troubles,  the  Vendee,  were  content  with  a  latent  hostility. 
In  the  Vendee,  the  duchess  of  Berri,  mother  of  the  young 
Bourbon  claimant,  Henry  V.,  courageously  led  a  movement 
(1832)  which  appealed  to  the  imagination,  but  also,  from 
its  failure  to  arouse  the  masses,  served  to  show  that  the 
legitimist  cause  was  moribund.  Far  more  serious  was  the 
republican  opposition.  The  leaders,  young  enthusiasts, 
appealed  to  the  working-class,  and  the  working-class,  as  it 
happened,  were  just  then  a  growing  section  of  the  nation. 
For  the  industrial  revolution,  the  product  of  science  and 
machinery,  had  set  in,  and  everywhere  factory-quarters 
arose  with  a  new  population,  housed  amid  soot  and 
squalor.  At  first  the  republicans  strove  to  organize  the 
workingmen  for  a  purely  political  revolution,  but  many  of 
the  leaders  presently  made  up  their  minds  that  a  social 
revolution,  having  as  its  object  the  improvement  of  the  con- 
ditions of  the  wage-earners,  was  more  to  the  point.  Ac- 
cordingly, they  drifted  into  socialism.  In  France  and  under 
Louis  Philippe  this  movement,  which  has  since  travelled 
round  the  world,  took  its  start.  With  Louis  Philippe  in 
power  the  old  republicans  and  their  offshoot,  the  socialists, 
saw  no  reason  to  divide  their  forces,  but  kept  up  a  united 
and  violent  opposition.  In  the  first  part  of  his  reign  they 
appealed  several  times  to  arms  (1832  and  1834),  but  having 
been  suppressed  with  bloody  consequences,  they  settled 
down  to  a  quiet  propaganda  until  their  hour  should  strike. 

Though  from  the  social  point  of  view  the  growth  of  the  ThcParlia- 
wage-earners  and  the  secret  ferment  among  them  is  the  "^'^^  '^'^^  '^ 
most  interesting  feature  of  Louis  Philippe's  reign,  the  con- 


440  The  Government  of  Louis  Philippe 


scious  political  life  of  that  generation  was  hardly  affectea 
by  it.  We  have  noticed  that  the  government  never  enjoyed 
the  favor  of  the  legitimists  and  the  republicans,  but  after 
their  early  attempts  these  parties  recognized  their  weak- 
ness and  desisted  from  violence.  Without  doubt  their  con- 
tinued existence  implied  danger,  but,  discouraged  by  fail- 
ure, they  abandoned  the  stage  and  left  it  to  the  middle  class. 
This  class,  therefore,  ruled,  and  if  its  members  had  been 
united  might  have  held  the  reins  for  a  long  time.  But 
perpetual  union  in  a  great  body  of  thinking  men  is  an  im- 
possibility, and  the  deputies  in  the  Chamber  soon  split  over 
the  question  of  Parliamentary  government.  One  section,  led 
Guizot  and  by  Guizot,  the  historian,  believed  that  the  king  should  choose 
ihiers.  j^.^  ministers  as  he  pleased;  another,  led  by  Thiers,  also  an 

historian  and  famous  as  the  panegyrist  of  the  Empire, 
maintained  that  he  must  take  them  from  the  majority  and 
carry  through  their  policy.  In  the  one  view  the  king  was 
a  free  agent,  in  the  other  merely  the  mouthpiece  of  the 
Parliament  and  ministry,  as  in  England.  In  this  conflict, 
waged  entirely  among  his  supporters  of  the  bourgeoisie, 
Louis  Philippe  seemed  to  occupy  a  neutral  position,  but 
secretly  inclined  to  Guizot,  and  by  adroit  management 
secured  to  that  leader,  and  incidentally  to  himself,  a 
majoritv  in  the  Chamber  and  the  unquestioned  control  of 
the  government.  In  1840  Guizot  came  into  power,  and  in 
spite  of  Thiers  and  every  other  form  of  opposition,  held  it 
till  the  monarchy  fell. 
Thiers  agitates  This  maintenance  of  power  looked  like  a  capital  achieve- 
liberaTsuf-  mcnt,  but  Unfortunately,  as  the  result  proved,  paved  the 
frage.  ^^y  for  revolution.     For  Guizot  and  the  king,  who  were 

hand  and  glove,  not  only  maintained  their  Parliamentary 
majority  by  freely  bribing  the  electorate  and  the  deputies, 
but  took  the  ultra-conservative  stand  of  refusing  to  listen 
to  suggestions  of  change  and  progress.     Now  Thiers,  though 


And  the  Revolution  of  184.8 


441 


The  revolution 
of  Pebruary, 
1848. 


a  monarchist,  made  up  his  mind  that  the  beginning  of  all 
improvement  was  the  enlargement  of  the  body  of  electors 
by  lowering  the  tax-paying  qualification,  and  the  agitation 
which  he  inaugurated  over  this  question  was  like  the  little 
stone  in  Nebuchadnezzar's  dream  which  shattered  the  clay 
feet  of  the  image  of  brass  and  brought  it  to  earth. 

The  method  chosen  for  the  electoral  agitation  was  a  series 
of  banquets,  at  which  reform  was  demanded  by  the  speakers. 
All  through  the  year  1847  these  banquets  were  in  progress, 
and  one,  which  was  to  be  made  a  great  occasion,  with  a 
procession  and  delegations  of  students,  was  set  at  Paris  for 
February  22,  1848.  The  government,  taking  alarm,  for- 
bade the  meeting,  but  crowds  gathered  nevertheless  and 
began  to  demonstrate  on  their  own  account.  The  next  day 
the  riot  grew  so  serious,  coupled  with  so  general  a  demand 
for  reform,  that  the  king  yielded  and  dismissed  Guizot. 
This  was  as  much  as  Thiers  intended,  but  popular  passions 
had  been  aroused,  and  by  February  24th  had  swelled  to  such 
a  pitch  that  they  burst  all  bounds.  The  morning  of  that 
day  began  with  an  assault  upon  the  Tuileries  by  the  repub- 
lican masses,  whose  savage  determination  frightened  the 
timid  king  into  resigning  in  favor  of  his  little  grandson. 
While  the  sovereign  himself  sought  safety  in  flight,  the 
duchess  of  Orleans  led  her  son,  the  count  of  Paris,  to  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  and  had  him  proclaimed  king.  But 
it  was  already  too  late.  The  republican  multitude  invaded 
the  hall,  ignored  the  deputies,  and  set  up  a  provisional 
government.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  socialistic  repub- 
licans had  helped  in  the  street-fighting,  some  of  their  leaders 
were  associated  with  the  government,  and  the  two  united 
factions  began  their  rule  by  announcing  to  the  world  that 
France  was  henceforth  a  republic. 

But  at  this  point  harmony  ceased,  for  the  two  republican   Renubiicans 
parties  stood  for  entirely  different  ideals.     The  old  repub-   socialists. 


The  republic 
is  proclaimed. 


442  The  Government  of  Louis  Philippe 


The  socialists 
overthrown. 


The  national 
work-shops. 


licans  wanted  merely  a  political  revolution  after  the  mannei 
of  1793,  but  the  new  school  of  socialists  was  content  with 
nothing  less  than  complete  industrial  reorganization.  The 
clash  began  immediately,  the  advantage  resting  at  first  with 
the  socialists.  By  means  of  demonstrations  on  the  part  of 
the  workingmen  they  forced  the  provisional  ministry  to  pro- 
claim that  the  state  "undertakes  to  provide  labor  for  all 
citizens,"  and  to  establish,  as  a  means  of  fulfilling  this 
promise,  so-called  "national  workshops."  That  ended 
the  socialistic  triumph,  for  when  in  April  the  general  elec- 
tions for  an  Assembly,  called  upon  to  give  France  a  con- 
stitution, took  place,  the  country,  placed  between  republi- 
cans and  socialists,  showed  its  horror  of  the  unfamiliar 
tenets  of  the  new  school  by  returning  an  immense  repub- 
lican majority.  At  the  opening  of  the  Assembly  the  mixed 
provisional  government  resigned  and  the  republicans  took 
hold  in  earnest.  The  socialists  no  sooner  noted  the  change 
than  they  took  alarm,  and  by  two  insurrections  (May  and 
June)  attempted  to  retrieve  their  fortunes.  Their  last 
rising,  which  lasted  four  days  (June  23d-26th),  led  to  the 
severest  battle  which  Paris,  familiar  for  ages  with  street- 
fighting,  had  ever  witnessed.  Certainly  only  men  moved  by 
courage  and  conviction  could  stand  up,  as  these  social  re- 
formers did,  against  cannon  and  musketry  fire,  but  they 
were  overborne,  their  leaders  killed  or  exiled,  and  the  party 
shattered  for  many  a  day. 

The  great  rising  of  June  was  not  only  a  general  protest 
against  the  republican  majority,  but  was  undertaken  for  the 
specific  purpose  of  saving  the  "national  workshops,"  which 
the  republicans  were  preparing  to  close,  and  which,  after 
their  victory,  they  suppressed  summarily.  This  socialist  ex- 
periment has  invited  a  good  deal  of  attention  on  the  ground 
that  it  tested  the  theory  that  industrial  enterprises  can  be 
profitably  nationalized;  that  is,  put  under  the  control  of  the 


And  the  Revolution  of  184.8  443 


state.  But  the  French  experiment  was  a  test  only  in  name; 
for  the  government,  having  no  sympathy  with  the  sociaHst 
programme,  instead  of  establishing  workshops,  merely  set 
the  unemployed  to  digging  at  the  fortifications  of  Paris. 
That  this  accomplished  nothing,  as  the  republicans  averred, 
but  the  embarrassment  of  the  treasury,  is  true;  but  it  is 
also  true,  as  the  socialists  asserted,  that  the  failure  of  the 
experiment  in  this  absurd  form  did  not  dispose  of  their 
theory. 

The  inference  from  the  savage  struggle  of  the  spring  of  Therepubli- 
1848  was  that  France,  although  a  republic,  was  not  ready  tionofi848. 
to  indulge  in  hazardous  experiments.  With  their  enemies 
overthrown,  the  republican  majority  of  the  Assembly  pro- 
ceeded to  fulfil  its  mission  of  giving  France  a  constitution. 
Insisting  on  the  democratic  principle  that  "all  public  powers 
emanate  from  the  people,"  it  vested  the  legislative  power  in 
a  single  Assembly  of  750  members  elected  by  universal  suf- 
frage, and  the  executive  power  in  a  citizen,  elected  as  presi- 
dent for  four  years.  As  to  the  manner  of  the  president's 
election,  it  was  agreed,  after  much  discussion,  that  he,  too, 
was  to  be  chosen  directly  by  the  people.  The  election  fol- 
lowed on  December  10,  1848,  and  to  the  surprise  of  all  un- 
acquainted with  the  heart  of  the  French  people  the  choice 
fell,  not  upon  General  Cavaignac,  the  leader  of  the  republi- 
cans and  the  hero  of  the  battles  of  June,  but  upon  Louis 
Napoleon. 

That  this  prince  should  ever  be  called  to  the  head  of  the  Career  of  the 
nation  by  universal  suffrage  would  never  have  been  dreamed 
by  any  one  who  had  followed  his  career.  He  was  the  son 
of  Napoleon's  brother  Louis,  king  of  Holland,  and  after  the 
death  of  Napoleon's  only  son  at  Vienna  (1832)  was  regarded 
as  chief  of  the  House  of  Bonaparte.  As  such  he  felt  it  his 
duty  to  conspire  for  his  dynasty,  and  made  two  attempts  in 
ludicrous  imitation  of  Napoleon's  return  from  Elba,  which 


/|/|/j  TJw  Government  of  Louis  Pliilippc 

were  greeted  by  Europe  with  an  outburst  of  Homeric  laugh- 
ter. In  1836  he  suddenly  appeared  in  Strasburg,  but  in  spite 
of  his  uncle's  hat,  sword,  and  boots,  donned  for  the  occasion, 
was  marched  off  to  prison.  Undaunted,  he  made  another 
attempt  to  rouse  France  in  1840  by  appearing  at  Boulogne; 
but  the  boat  conveying  him  and  a  few  helpmates  capsized, 
and  wet  and  dripping  he  was  fished  out  of  the  Channel  by 
the  ubiquitous  police.  For  this  second  escapade  he  was 
condemned  to  imprisonment,  but  in  1846  made  his  escape 
to  England.  On  the  proclamation  of  the  republic  he  became 
a  candidate  for  the  Assembly  and  was  repeatedly  returned  by 
the  electors.  Plainly,  he  was  outliving  the  ridicule  he  had 
aroused,  and  by  his  clever  trading  upon  the  magic  name 
Napoleon  was  rallying  about  him  all  those  classes,  especially 
the  peasants,  who  clung  to  the  traditions  of  the  empire.  The 
election  to  the  presidency  of  the  republic  was  an  honor  ad- 
dressed to  the  dead  warrior  rather  than  to  his  puny  repre- 
sentative, but  it  furnished  an  ominous  sign  that  the  love  of 
republican  institutions  was  not  very  deeply  rooted  in  the 
French  conscience.  Sincere  republicans  gazed  at  each  other 
with  consternation,  and  were  assailed  by  the  suspicion  that 
the  days  of  the  new  republic  were  numbered.  How  well- 
founded  this  fear  was  we  shall  presently  see. 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE  REVOLUTION  OF  1 848  IN  GERMANY,  AUSTRIA,  AND  ITALY 

References:  Fyffe,  Modern  Europe;  Phillips,  Modern 
Europe,  Chapters  XII.-XIIL;  Seignobos,  Europe 
Since  1814,  Chapter  XL,  pp.  335-48;  Chapter  XII., 
pp.  389-99;  Chapter  XIII.,  pp.  401-23;  Andrews, 
Modern  Europe,  Chapters  IX.-X. ;  Thayer,  Dawn  of 
Italian  Independence,  Vol.  II.,  Books  4-5;  Bolton 
King,  History  of  Italian  Unity  (1814-71),  Vol.  I.,  Part 
II.,  Chapters  IX.-XIIL;  Henderson,  Short  History  of 
Germany,  Vol.  II.,  Chapter  VIII. 

Source  Readings:  Robinson,  Readings,  Vol.  II.,  Chapter 
XL.,  Section  2. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  revolution  of  1830  produced  no   Therevolu- 
great  changes  in   central   Europe  because  the  liberal  and    ma!i1fests  U-' 
national  sentiment  had  not  yet  become  organized  and  power-   f^^^J^'^f "^" 
ful.     Hence,  the  succeeding  period  had  been  one  of  con- 
tinued reaction,  relieved,  however,  by  signs  that  the  masses 
were  becoming  conscious  of  their  servitude  and  ready  to 
shake  off  the  shackles  of  absolutism.     Again  the  events  at 
Paris  served  as  a  signal  fire.     A  wave  of  jubilation  passed 
over  all  the  peoples  from  the  Baltic  to  the  Mediterranean, 
and  they  arose  and  declared  for  a  free  government  and  a 
national  state.     France  once  again  vindicated  her  claim  to 
be  regarded  as  leader  of  Europe,  but  it  is  a  fact  that,  even 
without  her  example,  Italy,  Austria,  and  Germany  would 
not  have  supported  the  rule  of  repression  much  longer. 

Metternich's  own  capital,  the  very  hearthstone  of  the  Revolution  at 
spirit  of  reaction,  was  one  of  the  lirst  to  feel  the  breath  of  March,' 1S4S 
the  new  freedom.     On  March  13,  1848,  Vienna  rose  and 

44'? 


446 


The  Revolution  of  1848 


Revolution  at 
i3erlin 


The  revolu- 
tion is  national 
;is  well  ;is 
liberal. 


drove  the  aging  prince,  who  more  than  any  man  was  re- 
sponsible for  the  narrow  conservatism  of  the  first  half  of  the 
century,  from  the  chancellery  of  the  Austrian  empire  and 
from  the  capital.  With  him  the  whole  system  he  had  so  elab- 
orately built  up  collapsed  at  once,  absolutism  was  renounced, 
and  the  feeble  Emperor  Ferdinand,  frightened  by  the  tumult 
in  the  streets,  speedily  promised  a  constitution  and  a  Par- 
liament. A  new  era  seemed  to  dawn  upon  the  realm  of  the 
Hapsburgs. 

The  news  of  the  fall  of  Metternich  caused  exultation 
throughout  Germany,  on  which  his  hand  had  rested  with  no 
less  heaviness  than  on  Italy.  Riots  broke  out  in  many  of  the 
small  capitals  of  the  Bund,  and  on  March  i8th  Berlin  followed 
the  example  of  Vienna  and  rose  to  protest  against  the  auto- 
cratic system.  In  view  of  Prussia's  indifference  to  the  rev- 
olution of  1830  this  result  was  surprising.  But  the  last  dec- 
ade had  been  preparing  changes.  The  old  king  of  the  Wars 
of  Liberation  had  been  succeeded  in  1840  by  his  son,  Fred- 
erick William  IV.,  and  the  generation  which  stood  about 
the  latter's  throne  was  no  longer  satisfied  with  mere  admin- 
istrative efficiency,  but  demanded  a  share  in  legislation. 
Frederick  William,  in  spite  of  his  belief  in  Divine  Right,  had, 
as  early  as  1847,  yielded  so  far  as  to  call  to  Berlin  a  meeting 
of  provincial  delegates  (the  United  Diet),  sufficient  proof 
that  the  movement  of  1848  was  more  than  a  sudden  popular 
caprice.  As  a  result  of  the  March  days,  which  did  not  pass 
without  the  spilling  of  blood,  the  king  withdrew  his  troops 
from  the  capital  and  promised  to  call  a  Parliament. 

Thus  all  Germany  was  in  the  very  first  days  of  the  new 
revolution  converted  to  constitutionalism.  But  there  was 
an  equally  potent  desire  among  the  people  for  an  effective 
German  union.  Resolved  to  strike  the  iron  while  it  was  hot, 
the  liberal  leaders  of  various  German  states  met,  calmly 
shelved  the  Bund,  and  issued  a  call  for  a  German  Parliament, 


In  Germany,  Austria,  and  Italy  447 


to  be  elected  by  universal  suffrage  and  endowed  with  full 
authority  to  create  a  supreme  federal  government. 

The  German  Parliament,  morally  and  intellectually  a  very  A  national 
distinguished  body  of  men,  met  in  May,  1848,  at  Frankfort-  Frankfort. 
on-the-Main.  It  had  a  sincere  desire  to  establish  German 
unity;  it  had  the  learning  necessary  to  solve  all  knotty  con- 
stitutional problems;  but  it  suffered  from  one  fatal  defect: 
it  had  no  army,  no  body  of  administrative  officials ;  in  a  word, 
no  power.  In  the  first  weeks  of  revolutionary  excitement 
that  defect  might  be  supplied  by  an  irresistible  public  opin- 
ion; but  if  opinion  weakened  and  the  state  governments, 
panic-stricken  for  the  present  by  the  revolutionary  move- 
ment, recovered  breath  and  courage — what  then?  The 
Bund  had  been  established  expressly  to  guarantee  the  sov- 
ereignty of  the  thirty-eight  states,  which  would  certainly  not 
yield  their  dearest  possession  with  composure.  Austria  and 
Prussia,  in  particular,  proud  of  their  traditions  as  great 
powers,  could  hardly  be  expected  to  bow  weakly  to  the 
Democratic  and  revolutionary  body  sitting  at  Frankfort. 
Sooner  or  later  one  or  the  other  or  both  would  follow  an 
independent  policy,  and  the  clash,  testing  the  question  of 
supremacy,  would  be  at  hand. 

The  clash  came  over  the  Schleswig-Holsteia  complica-  The  Schkswig 

i-n>i  •     •  c    1  f         1  •  r  1  •  Ilolstein 

tion.  1  his  IS  one  of  the  most  confused  questions  of  history,  difficulty. 
the  veritable  nightmare  of  European  diplomacy  for  a  whole 
generation.  The  two  duchies  of  Schleswig  and  Holstein 
occupy  the  southern  half  of  the  peninsula  of  Jutland,  and 
are  inhabited,  except  for  the  northern  rim  of  Schleswig, 
which  is  Danish,  by  a  German  population.  The  king  of 
Denmark  was  also  duke  of  Schleswig  and  Holstein,  but  the 
two  duchies  were  otherwise  independent,  having  each  its 
own  laws  and  its  own  administration;  and  this  independence, 
chiefly  because  of  the  difference  in  race,  the  duchies  were 
very  anxious  to  preserve.     The  test  came  through  the  ques- 


448 


The  Revolution  of  18^8 


Prussia  dis- 
obeys the 
Parliament. 


Austria  falls 
apart. 


tion  of  succession.  The  royal  House  at  Copenhagen,  about 
to  die  out  in  the  male  line,  was  in  a  quandary.  The  Danish 
law  permitted  the  crown  to  pass  to  the  female  line,  while  the 
Schleswig-Holstein  law,  at  least  in  the  view  of  the  German 
population,  recognized  only  male  succession.  With  separa- 
tion staring  him  in  the  face,  the  Danish  king  declared  in 
1846  that  he  would  under  all  circumstances  maintain  the 
unity  of  his  monarchy.  Great  excitement  prevailed  at  this 
announcement,  and  taking  advantage  in  1848  of  the  general 
disturbance  of  Europe,  the  Schleswig-Holsteiners,  eager  to 
be  independent,  rose  in  revolt. 

At  this  point  the  Parliament  of  Frankfort  stepped  in.  Al- 
though determined  to  help  the  German  brethren  of  the 
duchies,  it  was  hampered  by  the  fact  that  it  had  no  armed 
force.  Accordingly,  it  was  obliged  to  put  the  destiny  of  its 
proteges  in  the  hands  of  Prussia.  The  Prussians,  entering 
Schleswig-Holstein,  presently  drove  back  the  Danes,  but  the 
latter  retaliated  by  seizing  the  Prussian  merchant  vessels  in 
the  Baltic.  This  fact,  coupled  with  the  interference  of  Rus- 
sia and  England,  determined  Frederick  William  to  sign  a 
truce  with  Denmark  (August  26th),  by  which  he  practically 
delivered  the  duchies  into  the  hands  of  the  Danes.  This 
action,  branded  as  treason  by  the  orators  of  the  Parliament, 
roused  great  indignation.  After  a  hot  debate  the  Prussian 
armistice  was  reluctantly  indorsed,  because  the  Assembly 
had  no  army  to  enforce  its  opposition;  but  this  yielding 
to  Prussia  furnished  to  the  world  the  proof  of  the  pow- 
erlessness  of  the  Parliament  over  the  states  which  it  pro- 
fessed to  control.  After  the  armistice  had  been  accepted, 
the  members  returned  to  the  constitutional  labors  for  which 
they  had  been  summoned,  where  we  shall  leave  them  for  the 
present  while  we  look  into  the  affairs  of  Austria  and  Italy. 

The  Austrian  empire  was  as  crazy  a  patchwork  as  has 
ever  been  pieced  together  by  fortune  and  state-craft.     Ger- 


In  Germany,  Austria,  and  Italy  449 


mans  in  the  west,  Hungarians  in  the  east,  Italians  in  the 
south,  and  Slavs  almost  everywhere  were  expected  to  live 
together  as  brethren  in  a  common  household.  A  certain  de- 
gree of  harmony  was  maintained  while  the  emperor  at  Vienna 
was  undisputed  lord  and  master;  but  as  soon  as  the  March 
revolution  destroyed  his  autocracy,  the  component  races 
flew  apart  with  violent  centrifugal  action.  In  a  few  weeks 
the  Italians  at  Milan  and  Venice  drove  out  the  Austrian 
troops,  the  Hungarians  raised  the  banner  of  revolt,  the  Slavs 
of  Bohemia,  called  Czechs,  planned  to  follow  their  e.xample, 
and  to  the  casual  view  the  proud  empire  seemed  a  thing  of 
the  past.  Let  us  follow  these  insurrections  in  their  leading 
centres. 

In  Italy  the  fall  of  Metternich  was  no  sooner  reported  than  The  Italian 
the  people  of  Lombardy  and  Venice,  long  restive  under  his  upon^A^istrra. 
lash,  rose,  fell  upon  the  troops,  and  declared  for  indepen- 
dence. The  Austrian  army,  yielding  for  the  moment,  re- 
tired in  good  order  under  its  general,  Radetzky,  to  a  chain 
of  impregnable  fortifications  prepared  for  just  such  an 
occasion,  and  known  as  the  Quadrilateral.  A  provisional 
government  at  Milan  appealed  to  all  Italy  for  help,  and  es- 
pecially to  Charles  Albert,  king  of  Sardinia,  the  most  pow- 
erful and  most  patriotic  of  the  local  princes.  For  the 
moment  the  national  movement  was  irresistible,  and  all 
the  more  important  rulers,  the  grand-duke  of  Tuscany,  the 
king  of  Naples,  and  even  the  Pope,  sent  contingents  to  fight 
side  by  side  with  the  Sardinians  for  the  liberation  of  the 
northern  provinces.  It  was  Italy's  first  great  national  war; 
its  purpose  the  expulsion  of  the  foreigner. 

In  this  heroic  enterprise,  originating  in  the  spontaneous  Austria  defeats 
action  of  the  people,  there  was  one  fatal  defect.     Among  the   italy. 
motley  Italian  forces  the  Sardinian  army  was  the  only  eflS- 
cient  body,  and  its  numbers  were  too  small  to  resist  the 
Avistrian  legions.    When  the  clash  came  at  Custozza,  on 


450 


The  Revolution  of  iS^8 


The  revolution 

in  Naples. 


The  revolution 
at  Rome. 


July  25th,  the  veteran  Radetzky  inflicted  a  decisive  defeat  on 
the  king  of  Sardinia,  reconquered  Lombardy,  and  obliged 
Charles  Albert  to  sue  for  a  truce.  When  at  the  expiration 
of  the  truce  the  war  was  renewed,  the  Austrians  won  another 
great  victory  at  Novara  (March,  1849),  and  the  struggle  was 
over.  Sick  at  heart  the  defeated  Charles  Albert  abdicated, 
and  his  successor,  Victor  Emmanuel,  made  haste  to  sign  a 
treaty  with  Austria  by  which  he  retired  from  the  war  and 
received  back  his  undiminished  realm.  That  left  the  Aus- 
trians face  to  face  with  their  two  revolted  provinces  of 
Lombardy  and  Venetia.  Milan,  the  capital  of  Lombardy, 
being  already  in  their  hands,  siege  was  now  laid  to  Venice 
and  the  city  obliged,  after  a  splendid  defence,  to  capitulate. 

Though  the  struggle  in  the  north  against  Austria  is  the 
climax  of  the  Italian  revolution,  the  rest  of  the  peninsula 
shared  in  the  aspirations  and  delusions  of  that  year  of  tur- 
moil. While  the  revolutionary  movement  was  at  its  height, 
the  Pope,  the  grand-duke  of  Tuscany,  the  king  of  Naples, 
and  the  lesser  princes  had  made  every  conceivable  conces- 
sion to  the  liberals;  but  as  soon  as  the  tide  receded,  they 
hurried  to  return  to  the  absolute  regime.  The  king  of  Na- 
ples was  the  first  to  forget  his  promises.  A  despot  without 
a  scruple,  or,  rather,  a  vaudeville  sovereign  in  real  life,  he 
overthrew  the  constitutional  system,  first  in  Naples  proper, 
and  afterward  in  Sicily.  A  reaction  worse  than  that  im- 
posed by  the  Austrians  on  Lombardy,  because  its  author  was 
more  despicable,  fastened  upon  the  fair  provinces  of  the 
south.  Far  more  memorable  was  the  march  of  the  revolu- 
tion in  the  central  section,  in  the  States  of  the  Church,  gov- 
erned at  this  time  by  Pius  IX.  In  fact,  the  movement  here 
throws  a  profound  searchlight  into  Italian  history. 

Pius  IX.,  elected  to  the  papacy  in  1846,  was  a  kind  and 
afifable  man,  with  a  reputation  for  liberalism  which  he  owed 
chiefly  to  an  occasional   good-natured   word  for  it.     He 


In  Germany,  Austria,  and  Italy  451 


sympathized  also,  to  a  certain  extent,  with  the  Itahan 
national  movement,  and  when  Lombardy  revolted  against 
Austria,  began  by  approving  the  action.  But  as  soon  as  he 
became  aware  of  the  consequences,  he  called  a  halt.  To 
send  troops  against  Austria  meant  a  declaration  of  war 
against  that  power  and  the  adoption  of  a  policy  hardly 
consistent  with  his  position  as  Pope.  He  found  himself 
in  a  dilemma,  the  inevitable  consequence  of  his  twofold 
character,  for  as  Pope  and  successor  of  the  Prince  of  Peace 
he  had  spiritual  obligations  toward  the  whole  Catholic 
world;  and  as  lord  of  an  Italian  territory  he  had  definite 
temporal  interests,  the  commanding  one  just  now  being 
to  join  with  the  nation  against  the  foreign  conqueror. 
When  he  saw  himself  obliged  to  choose  between  his  obliga- 
tions to  Catholicism  and  those  to  his  state,  he  naturally  pre- 
ferred the  greater  to  the  lesser,  and  to  the  immense  indig- 
nation of  his  people  withdrew  from  the  Austrian  war.  The 
incident  proved  that  a  Pope,  occupying  an  international  po- 
sition, could  never  follow  exclusive  national  ends,  and  the 
lesson  sunk  deep  into  Italian  hearts.  The  immediate  con- 
sequence was  a  revolution.  A  strong  republican  faction  TheRomai> 
pronounced  against  Pius  as  a  traitor  to  Italy;  and  when,  ^^"^^ 
alarmed  at  the  situation,  he  sought  refuge  (November  24, 
1848)  with  his  friend,  the  king  of  Naples,  the  liberals  took 
affairs  into  their  own  hands  and  erected  the  papal  dominion 
into  a  republic.  The  leading  spirit  of  the  new  government 
was  Mazzini,  a  pioneer  of  Italian  unity  and  a  tireless  con- 
spirator against  the  selfish  reigning  houses  of  his  unhappy 
country. 

The  Roman  republic  never   had    more  than  a  fighting  Napoleon  over- 
chance  to  live.     Catholic  peoples  the  world  over  were  hor-   Rol^nre- 
rified  at  the  dispossession  of  the  Holy  Father,  and  made  P^'^''^- 
ready  to  interfere.     Louis  Napoleon,  just  elected  president 
of  the  French  republic,  was  especially  delighted  at  the  op- 


452 


The  Revolution  of  1848 


Italy  looks  to 
the  House  of 
Savoy. 


The  army 
saves  Austria. 


portunity  oflFered  to  curry  favor  with  the  Catholic  clergy  and 
peasantry  of  France;  heedless  of  the  fact  that  he  was  pitting 
republic  against  republic,  he  sent  an  army  to  Rome  to 
sweep  Mazzini  and  his  followers  out  of  the  city.  General 
Garibaldi,  who  had  been  created  commander-in-chief,  made 
a  gallant  fight,  but  had  to  give  way  to  numbers,  and  in  July, 
1849,  the  French  entered  the  conquered  city.  When  the 
disillusioned  Pope  returned  to  his  capital,  he  was  cured  of 
every  predilection  for  reform,  and  reestablished  the  hateful 
clerical  administration  with  all  its  time-worn  abuses. 

Thus  closed  the  revolutionary  war  for  Italy  with  a  harvest 
of  disappointments.  Affairs  relapsed  to  their  former  state; 
the  brave  effort  had  been  apparently  in  vain.  But  one  fact 
had  been  brought  home  to  Italians,  which  was  that  they  had 
in  the  king  of  Sardinia  the  one  faithful  ruler  of  the  land,  and 
in  his  army  the  one  hope  of  redemption.  Charles  Albert 
had  stood  by  the  cause  till  his  overthrow,  and  Victor  Em- 
manuel, in  spite  of  bribes  and  threats  from  Austria,  refused 
to  become  a  reactionary  and  to  withdraw  the  constitution 
granted  to  Piedmont  in  1848.  Such  conduct  aroused  a 
love  and  admiration  which  drew  the  eyes  of  all  Italy  toward 
the  House  of  Savoy. 

While  Austria  was  successfully  reducing  the  Italians,  she 
had  her  hands  full  with  revolutions  in  every  other  part  of  her 
dominions.  We  have  noted  that  the  rising  of  the  Germans 
at  Vienna  was  the  signal  for  similar  risings  among  the  Ital- 
ians, Hungarians,  and  Czechs,  not  to  mention  a  number  of 
smaller  nationalities.  With  confusion  reigning  at  the  capi- 
tal and  the  emperor  no  better  than  an  imbecile,  it  is  certain 
that  the  state  would  have  been  lost,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
army.  Its  powerful  discipline  held  it  together,  in  spite  of 
the  general  chaos;  in  Italy  it  had  just  proved  its  metal.  Its 
leaders  were  of  course  eager  to  apply  Radetzky's  remedy  of 
the  sword  to  all  the  other  rebels,  and  soon  showed  how  diffi- 


In  Germany,  Austria,  and  Itdiy  453 


cult  it  is  for  a  mere  mob  to  stand  up  against  professional 
soldiers.  In  June,  1848,  Windischgraetz,  commanding  in 
Bohemia,  disposed  without  much  difficulty  of  the  rebellious 
Czechs,  and  encouraged  by  his  success  marched  shortly  after 
upon  the  Germans  at  Vienna.  There  the  inhabitants  made 
a  courageous  stand,  and  it  was  not  till  October  that  the  army 
stormed  the  gates  and  forced  its  way  into  the  city.  With 
Czechs  and  Germans  once  more  under  the  rule  of  the  bay- 
onet, and  the  Italians  delivered  to  the  bloody  mercies  of 
Radetzky,  there  remained  only  the  Hungarian  revolt  to  crush 
for  Austria  to  be  her  accustomed  self  again. 

But  the  Hungarian  revolt  turned  out  to  be  the  toughest  Therevolu- 
task  that  the  imperial  army  undertook,  probably  because  g^j-y. 
the  Hungarians  were  the  most  tenacious  of  the  subjects  of 
the  emperor,  and  in  any  case  the  best  organized.  The  king- 
dom of  Hungary  was  one  of  the  many  possessions  of  the 
Hapsburg  crown.  It  had  an  ancient  constitution,  which 
the  rulers  of  the  past  had  frequently  violated,  but  latterly  a 
patriotic  party  had  insisted  more  and  more  stoutly  on  its 
being  put  in  force.  The  year  1848  brought  a  complete  tri- 
umph. The  frightened  government  at  Vienna  servilely 
yielded  everything  that  the  Hungarians  asked,  until  the 
successes  against  the  Italians,  Czechs,  and  Germans  en- 
couraged it  to  stiffen  its  back.  From  verbal  disputes  the 
Austrian  Government  presently  proceeded  to  war,  and  in 
December,  1848,  the  hitherto  victorious  Windischgraetz  in- 
vaded Hungary.  The  defence  which  followed  constitutes 
a  splendid  tribute  to  the  spirit  of  the  little  nation.  The 
Hungarians,  under  their  energetic  general,  Gorgei,  succeeded 
in  driving  the  Austrians  back  upon  Vienna,  and  elated  by 
their  success  declared  the  House  of  Hapsburg  deposed.  The  Kossuth, 
step  was  taken  under  the  influence  of  Louis  Kossuth,  a  re- 
publican, who  had  made  himself  practically  dictator.  The 
measure  was  of  doubtful  wisdom,  for  it  drove  the  Viennese 


454 


The  Revolution  of  1848 


Return  to  the 

policy  of  re- 
pression. 


Reaction  in 
Germany. 


Prussia  gets  a 
constitution, 

i«49- 


court  to  desperation,  and  induced  it  to  appeal  to  Czar 
Nicholas  for  aid.  This  Czar,  the  last  true  supporter  of 
the  principle  of  intervention  as  laid  down  in  the  era  of 
congresses,  responded  with  alacrity,  and  presently  a  Russian 
army  took  the  Hungarians  in  the  flank.  The  rebels,  caught 
between  two  fires,  made  a  good  fight;  but  by  August,  1849. 
all  was  over,  the  leaders  of  the  late  revolution  killed  or 
scattered,  and  Austrian  rule  once  more  supreme. 

Thus  Austria  had  come  out  of  her  terrible  crisis  apparently 
unscathed.  The  victorious  court,  alarmed  by  the  liberal  and 
racial  movements  of  the  past  year,  now  concluded  that  the 
only  way  to  save  the  state  was  to  put  all  the  nationalities  on 
a  basis  of  equality,  and  subject  all  alike  to  a  common  army 
and  a  common  administration.  As  the  Emperor  Ferdinand 
had  made  too  many  personal  pledges,  he  was  induced  to 
abdicate  and  was  succeeded  by  his  young  nephew,  Francis 
Joseph. 

On  turning  back  now  to  Germany,  we  are  immediately 
struck  by  the  fact  that  the  progress  of  reaction  in  Austria 
greatly  encouraged  the  conservative  elements  among  the 
German  states.  The  king  of  Prussia,  who  had  yielded  to 
circumstances  but  was  still  an  unconverted  absolutist,  re- 
solved to  treat  Berlin  as  Windischgraetz  had  served  Vienna. 
Troops  suddenly  took  possession  of  the  capital,  and  the  Prus- 
sian Diet,  which  was  making  a  constitution  for  the  state, 
was  prorogued  to  another  city  and  there  dissolved  (Novem- 
ber 7th).  Frederick  William  might  have  returned  to  the  old 
absolutism,  but  deterred  by  certain  scruples,  which  redound 
to  his  honor,  resolved  to  give  his  subjects  a  constitution  of  his 
own  making.  This  instrument  did  not  meet  all  of  the  lib- 
eral demands,  but  it  guaranteed  to  the  people  a  share  in  the 
legislation,  and  was  evidence  that  in  Prussia,  almost  alone 
in  central  Europe,  the  revolution  of  1848  had  not  been  en- 
tirely in  vain. 


In  Germany,  Austria,  and  Italy  455 


The  next  body  to  feel  the  reaction  was  the  German  Par-  The  German 

„        ,  .  ,,,,..  ,1       ,•  r  -x      !•  Parliament 

liament  at  Frankfort.  We  left  it  at  the  time  of  its  discom-  completes  its 
fiture  in  the  Schleswig-Hclstein  matter,  when  the  proof  of  its  ^349!'*''^'°'' 
weakness  had  been  furnished  by  its  inability  to  control  the 
policy  of  Prussia.  Since  then  it  had  proceeded,  in  spite  of 
gathering  clouds,  with  its  work  of  uniting  all  Germany  by 
a  constitution.  The  greatest  barrier  in  its  path  was  Aus- 
tria. As  this  state,  a  mixture  of  all  nationalities,  would  cut 
a  strange  figure  in  a  German  national  state,  it  was  finally 
resolved  to  exclude  it  from  the  proposed  union.  A  related 
difficulty,  the  headship  of  Germany,  therewith  practically 
solved  itself.  Not  without  violent  discussion,  it  was  decided 
that  the  chief  executive  should  be  a  hereditary  emperor, 
and  that  the  post  should  be  offered  to  the  king  of  Prussia. 
In  April,  1849,  a  deputation  from  the  Parliament  travelled 
to  Berlin  to  offer  the  crown  of  united  Germany  to  Frederick 
William. 

Their  answer  was  a  refusal.     Frederick  William  was  too  The  king  of 

.  -^.    .        TT    1  1  Prussia  rejects 

deeply  penetrated  with  the  ideas  of  Divine  Right  to  have  the  proffered 


crown. 


any  sympathy  for  a  popular  and  democratic  honor,  he  was 
convinced  that  the  constitution  was  unworkable,  and — he 
was  afraid  of  Austria.  Austria  was  just  recovering  her  en- 
ergy and  notified  Berlin,  in  no  uncertain  language,  that  the 
acceptance  of  the  imperial  office  by  a  HohenzoUern  would 
never  be  suft'ered  by  the  House  of  Hapsburg.  Frederick 
William  was  a  well-meaning  man  of  mystical,  confused  ideas, 
and,  like  all  waverers,  ended  by  yielding  to  pressure.  The 
committee  of  the  Parliament  went  back  to  Frankfort,  re- 
ported its  failure,  and  that  body,  not  without  a  small  flurry 
of  revolt,  recognized  that  its  work  was  ended  and  retired 
from  the  scene. 

Frederick  William,  who,   in  spite  of  his  refusal  of  the  The  king  of 

....      Prussia  tries  to 

crown,  felt  that  he  was  pledged  to  do  something  tor  his   persuade  the 
nation,  now  tried  to  persuade  the  German  governments  to  ^'^^^^""^ 


456 


TJie  Revolution  of  18^8 


The  Bund  set 
up  again. 


Schleswig- 

Holstein 

crushed. 


German 
results. 


negotiate  among  themselves  about  the  bases  of  a  new  union. 
His  thought  was  that  since  the  people  had  failed,  the  princes 
should  try  in  their  turn.  But  Austria,  which  had  learned 
by  this  time  that  any  form  of  German  union  would  be  in- 
jurious to  her,  threw  her  whole  influence  against  this  scheme 
as  well.  Finally,  she  proposed  to  reconstitute  the  old 
Bund,  the  great  attraction  of  which  was  that  it  left  the  sov- 
ereignty of  the  princes  intact  and  reduced  the  power  of  Prus- 
sia to  nothing.  The  Bund  had  fallen  like  a  house  of  cards 
in  1848,  but  Austria  set  it  up  once  more  and  invited  every- 
body to  enter  and  complete  the  happy  family.  The  princes, 
selfishly  mindful  only  of  their  independence,  deserted  Fred- 
erick William  and  gathered  around  the  Austrian  standard. 
The  king  of  Prussia  presently  found  himself  alone;  and 
when  Austria,  aware  that  she  was  dealing  with  a  timid  man, 
haughtily  ordered  him  to  give  up  every  idea  of  a  closer  union 
and  be  satisfied  with  the  Bund,  he  yielded  without  a  struggle 
(Treaty  of  Olmlitz,  November,  1850).  The  old  Bund — that 
was  the  ridiculous  issue  of  the  two  years'  labor  of  the  nation. 
Germany  seemed  not  to  be  worthy  of  a  better  form  of  union. 

In  this  general  collapse  of  German  hopes  and  illusions  the 
Schleswig-Holsteiners,  who  had  rebelled  against  the  king 
of  Denmark,  could  not  escape  disaster.  Abandoned  by 
Prussia  in  August,  1848,  they  had  several  times  returned  to 
the  fray,  but  were  crushed  definitely  in  1850.  A  conference 
of  powers  met  at  London  to  consider  their  case  and  decided 
the  succession  question  against  them.  It  was  agreed  (Pro- 
tocol of  1852)  to  designate  Prince  Christian  of  Glucksburg 
as  heir  of  the  Danish  monarchy  and  of  the  duchies  as  well. 
In  spite  of  their  protests  the  duchies  were  now  subjected  to 
Denmark  and  their  case  adjourned  till  they  had  summoned 
strength  to  rise  once  more  against  their  masters. 

With  the  German  Parliament  banished  to  the  shades, 
the  duchies  of  Schleswig  and  Holstein  redelivered  to  the 


In   Germany,  Austria,  a)id  Italy  457 

Danes,  the  Bund  reconstituted  at  Frankfort,  and  Austria 
restored  under  an  absolute  sovereign,  the  Aletternichian 
system  with  all  its  attendant  miseries  had  been  given  a  new 
lease  of  life.  Patriots  and  liberals  were  filled  with  despair. 
But  as  no  evil  is  without  some  grain  of  good,  the  confusion 
of  the  revolution  had  shown  two  things:  it  had  shown  that 
the  greatest  enemy  to  German  unity  was  the  Austrian  court, 
and  that  salvation,  if  it  ever  came,  would  have  to  come  from 
Prussia.  Prussia's  prestige,  it  is  true,  was,  after  her  many 
failures,  lamentably  low.  But  something  remained:  it  was 
not  forgotten  that  the  national  hopes  had  once  enthusias- 
tically turned  to  her;  and  by  her  adoption  of  a  constitution 
she  had  divorced  herself  definitely  from  mediaeval  forms  and 
planted  her  feet  in  the  present. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

FRVNCE   UNDER   NAPOLEON   III   AND    THE   UNIFICATION 

OF   ITALY 

References:  Fyffe,  Modern  Europe,  Chapter  XX.,  pp. 
809-23;  Chapters  XXI.-XXIL;  Phillips,  Modern 
Europe,  Chapters  XIV.-XV.;  Seignobos,  Europe  Since 
1814,  Chapter  VI.,  pp.  166-76;  Chapter  XL,  pp.  346- 
61;  Andrews,  Modern  Europe,  Vol.  II.,  Chapters 
I.-IIL;  Bolton  King,  History  of  Italian  Unity, 
Vol.  II.;  Stillman,  The  Union  of  Italy;  Cesaresco, 
Cavour;  Mazade,  Cavour. 

Source  Readings:  Robinson,  Readings,  Vol.  II.,  Chapter 
XL.  (Louis  Napoleon's  coup  d'etat,  Garibaldi,  Victor 
Emmanuel,  etc.);  Anderson,  Constitutions  and  Docu- 
ments; Garibaldi,  Autobiography,  3  vols.;  Mazzini, 
Life  and  Writings,  6  vols. 

Louis  Napo-  The  indication  furnished  by  the  choice  of  Louis  Napoleon 

Inonlrchi'cal'^     as  president,  that  France  did  not  really  want  a  republic,  was 
elements.  converted  into  positive  proof  by  the  elections  of  May,  1849, 

to  the  Legislative  Assembly.  The  country  returned  an  im- 
mense monarchical  majority,  and  the  only  reason  the  repub- 
lic was  not  immediately  overthrown  lay  in  the  circumstance 
that  the  monarchists  were  divided  into  three  groups:  legit- 
imists, favoring  the  elder  Bourbon  line;  Orleanists,  devoted 
to  the  family  of  Louis  Philippe,  and  a  rising  Bonapartist 
faction,  supporting  the  president.  Louis  Napoleon,  while 
doing  his  best  to  strengthen  his  personal  supporters,  encour- 
aged a  combination  of  all  the  monarchists  to  crush  the  re- 
publicans.    The  Assembly  soon  showed  its  hand  in  a  suc- 

4>X 


The   Unification  of  Italy  459 

cession  of  conservative  measures  of  whicli  the  crowning  one 
was  the  limitation  (1850)  of  universal  suffrage,  perhaps  the 
greatest  achievement  of  the  late  revolution.  An  even  less 
defensible  measure — already  referred  to  in  the  previous 
chapter — had  been  adopted  in  the  spring  of  1849  and  may 
be  laid  principally  at  the  door  of  the  president  himself.  In 
order  to  curry  favor  with  the  monarchists  and  Catholics — 
the  combined  conservative  element — Louis  Napoleon  sent 
an  expedition  against  Mazzini's  Roman  republic,  thereby 
outraging  the  liberal  sentiment  of  Europe  even  more  than 
the  Austrians  did  by  their  reconquest  of  Lombardy. 

Not  for  a  year  or  two  did  the  monarchical  majority  of  the  He  appeals  to 
Chamber  begin  to  understand  that  Louis  Napoleon's  am-  memory. 
bition  was  entirely  personal,  and  therefore  hostile  to  their 
own  plans.  He  was  most  skilful  in  sounding  the  chords  of 
the  national  memory,  and  before  long  was  frequently  re- 
ceived by  the  public  with  the  old  rallying  cry  of  "  Vive  Na- 
poleon!" and  even  "Vive  Pempereur!"  The  last  veil  fell 
from  his  plans  when,  in  1851,  he  presented  himself  before 
the  legislature  with  the  request  to  alter  the  constitution  for 
his  own  advantage.  The  constitution  fixed  the  presidential 
term  at  four  years,  without  the  right  to  reelection.  As  by 
the  operation  of  this  article  Louis  Napoleon  would  have 
become  a  private  citizen  in  1852,  he  urged  repeal  upon  the 
Chamber.  When  the  Chamber  refused,  he  resolved,  in  order 
to  save  himself,  to  overthrow  the  government  and  consti- 
tution. 

The  coup  d'etat  was  set  for  December  2,  1851.  As  soon  The  coup 
as  the  army  was  won  over,  the  success  of  the  conspirators  December  a 
was  certain.  While  the  troops  occupied  Paris,  closed  the 
hall  of  the  deputies,  and  put  the  president's  leading  opponents 
under  lock  and  key,  the  president  himself  announced  by 
placard  the  return  to  the  system  of  his  famous  uncle  as  em- 
bodied in  the  Constitution  of  the  Year  VIII.     The  country, 


iSsi. 


460 


France   Under  Napoleon  III 


The  advent- 
urous policy 
of  Napoleon 
III. 


Trouble  be- 
tween Tnrkey 
andPusaia. 


called  upon  to  express  its  opinion  upon  these  proceedings,  in- 
dorsed the  coup  d^etat  by  a  large  majority.  Louis  Napoleon 
thereupon  completed  his  government  on  the  basis  of  a 
granted  constitution,  which,  while  preserving  some  liberal 
forms,  as,  for  instance,  a  legislative  body,  practically  concen- 
trated the  whole  power  in  the  hands  of  the  chief  executive. 
There  was  nothing  left  to  make  the  triumph  complete  but  to 
cull  its  last  fruits,  and  exactly  a  year  after  the  coup  d'etat  the 
president  assumed  the  title  Emperor  Napoleon  III. 

The  new  emperor  never  forgot  that  he  was  a  usurper  and 
could  maintain  his  throne  only  with  the  favor  of  the  French 
people.  As  they  were  sure  to  exhibit  increasing  discontent 
with  a  domestic  regime  excluding  them  from  all  political 
activity,  he  resolved  to  distract  their  attention  by  a  brilliant 
loreign  policy.  This  was  taking  a  page  from  the  note-book  of 
Napoleon  I.,  who  frequently  remarked  that  all  the  French 
people  wanted  to  satisfy  them  was  military  glory.  Whither 
the  doctrine  led  that  great  man  we  are  aware.  Napoleon 
III.,  too,  at  first  had  his  triumphs,  but  without  ever  climbing 
as  high  as  his  exemplar,  managed  in  the  end  to  fall  much 
lower. 

The  first  chance  for  playing  a  role  presented  itself  in  the 
east.  The  weakness  shown  by  the  Ottoman  empire  in  the 
Greek  War  of  Liberation  became  greater  in  the  succeeding 
decades,  and  led  the  Czar  to  imagine  that  the  death-agony 
was  at  hand.  He'  referred  to  the  Sultan  habitually  as  "  the 
sick  man,"  and  persuaded  himsdf  that  England  and  Russia 
between  them  ought  to  make  ready  to  divide  the  heritage. 
But  England  preferred  the  Sultan  to  the  Czar  at  Constanti- 
nople and  resolved  to  act  the  part  of  champion  of  the  Turk- 
ish empire.  There  were  other  complications,  which  led 
finally  to  the  Czar's  demanding  (April,  1853)  to  be  recognized 
as  protector  of  all  Greek  Christians  resident  in  Turkey.  As 
this  would  have  made  Nicholas  co-sovereign  with  the  Sultan 


And  the  Unification  of  Italy  461 

in  the  Turkish  dominions,  the  English  ambassador  urged 
his  protege  to  refuse.  The  answer  of  the  Russians  was  to 
occupy  the  Roumanian  principalities  in  order  to  enforce 
their  claims,  and  war  followed  between  them  and  the  Turks. 

But  Turkey  was  not  left  alone  this  time  as  in  1828-29.  England  and 
England  was  in  honor  bound  to  help  her;  and  though  no  portTurkey. 
vital  French  interest  was  at  stake,  Napoleon,  glad  to  find  an 
occasion  to  put  himself  forward,  offered  England  his  alliance. 
Together  the  two  western  powers  signed  a  treaty  with  Tur- 
key (March,  1854)  and  declared  war  upon  Russia.  What 
had  threatened  at  first  to  be  merely  another  Turco-Russian 
conflict,  thus  became  a  European  war,  the  first  on  any  con- 
siderable scale  since  the  Napoleonic  struggle. 

In  the  first  part  of  the  campaign  of  1854  the  Russians  The  Crimean 
retired  from  Roumania  into  their  own  territory  and  stood  on  ^' '  54  .  • 
the  defensive.  The  allies  therefore  were  obliged  to  agree 
upon  some  point  for  attack,  and  after  much  waste  of  time 
hit  upon  the  fortress  of  Sebastopol  in  the  Crimea.  The  war 
practically  reduced  itself  to  the  siege  of  this  great  stronghold, 
which  the  Russians  defended  skilfully  and  manfully  for  a 
whole  year.  Its  fall  in  September,  1855,  discouraged  the 
Russians  greatly;  and  as  Czar  Nicholas,  whose  pretensions 
had  caused  the  war,  died  during  the  siege,  to  be  succeeded 
by  his  humane  and  moderate  son,  Alexander  II.,  negotia- 
tions could  be  begun,  which  led  to  the  signing  of  the  Peace  The  Peace  of 
of  Paris  (March,  1856).  As  Turkey  had  been  the  ally  of  ^"^''  ^ 
France  and  England,  the  general  effect  of  the  peace  was  a 
victory  of  the  Sultan  over  his  ancient  foe,  the  Czar.  The 
decadent  and  contemptible  Ottoman  Empire  had  all  its  pos- 
sessions guaranteed  by  the  powers,  who  engaged  not  to  inter- 
fere in  its  affairs.  This  plainly  meant  the  delivering  over  of 
the  Balkan  Christians  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  Sultan. 
But  nobody  seemed  to  care  as  long  as  the  provision  robbed 
Russia  of  her   influence   at  Constantinople.     The  fear  of 


462 


France  Under  Napoleon  III 


Napoleon's 
prestige. 


Napoleon 
reopens  the 
Italian  ques- 
tion. 


Cavour  allies 
himself  with 
NapKjleon. 


Russia  was  shown  in  a  further  article,  by  which  she  was 
forbidden  to  keep  warships  in  the  Black  Sea. 

The  Crimean  War,  concluded  at  Paris  under  the  eyes  of 
Napoleon,  greatly  enhanced  his  influence;  though,  as  al- 
ready remarked,  it  would  be  hard  to  say  what  advantage 
France  reaped  therefrom.  Napoleon  III.'s  policy  was  per- 
sonal, not  national.  That  is  the  conclusion  which  his  whole 
reign  confirms,  and  particularly  the  steps  he  now  took  in  the 
Italian  question. 

Napoleon,  in  spite  of  his  name,  was  not  so  much  a  warrior 
as  a  clever  and  juggling  politician  endowed  with  ambition 
and  a  few  general  ideas.  Among  them  was  that  of  national- 
ity— every  nation  must  come  into  its  own — and  it  is  one  of 
the  pleasanter  sides  of  Napoleon  that  he  was  really  willing 
to  risk  something  to  bring  his  idea  to  realization.  The  spec- 
tacle of  a  nation  in  chains  had  excited  his  sympathy  for 
Italy  even  when  a  lad,  and  now  led  him  to  plan  the  libera- 
tion of  the  peninsula  from  Austrian  rule — a  generous  impulse 
without  doubt,  but  one  explained  by  his  personal  predi- 
lections, not  grounded  in  the  necessities  of  the  French  state 
of  which  he  was  the  temporary  guardian. 

Italy  since  the  failure  of  the  rising  of  1848  was  dominated 
by  Austria.  The  hopes  and  prayers  of  the  patriots  turned 
to  Sardinia-Piedmont,  and  this  state,  under  Victor  Emman- 
uel II.  and  his  great  minister,  Cavour,  was  systematically 
preparing  itself  for  a  new  struggle.  But  Cavour  was  con- 
vinced that  without  the  help  of  a  great  power  Sardinia  could 
not  wage  a  victorious  war  against  Austria.  The  campaign  of 
1848-49  had  pointed  this  lesson.  Cautiously  Cavour  sought 
the  friendship  of  Napoleon;  joined,  merely  to  put  him  under 
obligation,  in  the  Crimean  War;  waved  the  national  idea  be- 
fore his  eyes;  and  finally  concluded  with  him  a  formal  al- 
liance (Treaty  of  Plombieres,  1858).  The  alliance  was  di- 
rected against  Austria,  which  was  to  be  driven  out  of  Italy. 


And  the   Unification  of  Italy  463 

The  war  began  in  the  spring  of  1859,  and  was  over  in  a  The  war  of 
few  weeks.  By  two  victories,  at  Magenta  and  at  Solferino,  ^ 
the  allies — France  and  Sardinia — drove  the  Austrians  out  of 
Lombardy  back  upon  the  Quadrilateral.  Italy  was  ablaze 
with  bonfires  and  hailed  Napoleon,  wherever  he  appeared, 
with  tumultuous  enthusiasm.  But  much  remained  to  be 
done;  the  Quadrilateral,  one  of  the  strongest  defensive  po- 
sitions of  Europe,  must  be  taken  before  Italy  would  be  free. 
At  that  juncture  occurred  a  dramatic  change.  Just  as  every- 
body was  expecting  news  of  another  great  battle,  the  tele- 
graph flashed  the  information  that  Napoleon  and  Francis 
Joseph  had  had  a  personal  interview  and  arranged  a  peace 
(July).  Austria  agreed  to  give  up  Lombardy,  but  was  per- 
mitted to  retain  Venetia,  thus  retaining  a  powerful  foothold 
in  the  peninsula.  Victor  Emmanuel  II.  and  Cavour,  though 
deeply  disappointed,  bowed  to  the  inevitable,  comforted  by 
the  reflection  that  Italian  unity  had  in  one  short  spring 
made  gigantic  strides. 

The  considerations  which  moved  Napoleon  to  his  sudden  Napoleon's 
turn-about  were  manifold.  He  was  not  a  masterful  char-  m^'ingpJace. 
acter  and  easily  fell  victim  to  his  fears.  The  military  prob- 
lems of  breaking  through  the  Quadrilateral  alarmed  him, 
Germany,  by  arming  on  the  Rhine  frontier,  was  threaten- 
ing his  flank,  and,  above  all,  the  movement  in  Italy  filled 
him  with  dismay.  He  handed  over  Lombardy  to  Victor 
Emmanuel  and  hurried  home,  resolved  to  wash  his  hands  of 
the  troublesome  Italian  matter.  He  had  entered  the  war 
prepared  to  do  something  for  the  cause  of  the  Italian  na- 
tionality, but  he  had  not  foreseen  the  immense  turmoil 
which  the  war  caused  in  the  peninsula. 

To  this   turmoil    we    must    now  give  attention,   for    it   Annexations 
introduces  us   to  the  first  stage  in  the  history  of  Italian  northern  italy. 
unificaticn.     Elated  by  the  defeat  of  the  Austrian  foe,  Tus- 
cany, Modena,  Parma,  and  the  Romagna,  practically  the 


464 


France  Under  Napoleoyt  III 


whole  of  central  Italy,  drove  out  their  rulers  and  declared 
for  annexation  to  Sardinia.  Victor  Emmanuel,  pleased 
though  he  was,  dared  not  accept  these  territories  without 
the  consent  of  Napoleon.  Feverish  negotiations  followed, 
which  ended  in  an  agreement  that  permitted  the  annexations 
in  return  for  the  cession  to  France  of  Savoy  and  Nice.     Bis- 


JHE  IMFICATION 
OF  ITALI 


;SAVO^\ 


marck  referred  to  the  transaction  ironically  as  Napoleon's 
poiirhoire  (waiter's  tip)  for  services  rendered.  The  pay- 
ment was  resented  at  the  Sardinian  court,  but  against  it 
stood  the  immense  advantage  of  Lombardy  and  the  cen- 
tral states.  Sardinia  had  in  the  course  of  a  single  year 
absorbed  northern  Italy  except  Venice.  This  is  the  first 
step  in  the  unification  of  the  peninsula. 


And  the   Unification  of  Italy  465 

The  second  was  the  capture  the  next  year  (i860)  of  the  Garibaldi 
south,  accomplished  by  the  adventurous  expedition  of  that  stalvTnd 
famous  soldier  of  fortune,  Garibaldi.  This  spirited  leader  ^Mes. 
secretly  gathered  one  thousand  volunteers  about  him  and  set 
sail  for  Sicily.  They  had  only  to  show  themselves  with  the 
national  colors  for  the  Sicilians  to  toss  their  hats  into  the  air 
and  abandon  the  hated  Bourbon  king.  Sicily  conquered, 
Garibaldi  sailed  across  the  straits  to  the  mainland,  and  again 
the  proof  was  furnished  that  the  Bourbon  dynasty  had  never 
taken  root  among  the  people.  The  bold  invader  was  ac- 
claimed as  a  saviour  wherever  he  appeared,  and  in  Septem- 
ber entered  the  city  of  Naples  in  triumph.  The  fugitive 
king,  Francis  II.,  made  his  last  stand  at  the  fortress  of  Gaeta, 
to  pass  at  its  surrender  into  life-long  exile.  His  ^extensive 
kingdom  (Napjles  and  Sicily)  declared  by  popular  vote  for 
annexation  to  Sardinia.  The  Garibaldians  at  the  same 
time  resolved  to  round  off  the  previous  Italian  annexations 
in  the  center,  and  were  on  the  point  of  seizing  the  Marches 
and  Umbria,  belonging  to  the  States  of  the  Church,  when 
Cavour  interposed  and  occupied  them  with  the  Sardinian 
army.  It  was  only  with  difficulty  that  Garibaldi  was  dis- 
suaded from  attempting  to  seize  Rome  itself.  The  second 
stage  of  Italian  unification  had  yielded  so  considerable  a 
harvest  that  only  Venetia  and  Rome  were  still  outside  the 
national  state.  As  Venetia  was  held  by  Austria,  and  Rome 
guarded  by  French  troops  who  had  never  discontinued  their 
occupation  begun  in  1849,  the  attempt  to  seize  either  of 
these  provinces  meant  war  with  a  great  power,  and  for  such 
audacity  Victor  Emmanuel  was  not  prejjared.  The  prog- 
ress of  the  unitarian  movement  was  therefore  adjourned 
to  a  more  auspicious  time. 

In  view  of  this  situation  the  king  and  his  great  councillor,   Victor  Em- 
Cavour,  resolved  to  inaugurate  a  period  of  rest  and  recupera-  d^m^d  kingo'f 
tion.     Technically  there  existed  only  a  kingdom  of  Sardinia  ^^^^y'  '^^'- 


466  France  Under  Napoleon  III 


with  annexations  several  times  the  size  of  the  little  state, 
which  had  championed  the  national  cause.  In  February, 
1861,  deputies  from  all  the  absorbed  sections  met  at  Turin 
and  proclaimed  \'ictor  Emmanuel  king  of  Italy.  It  was  a 
proud  and  uplifting  moment  in  the  history  of  a  brave  people. 
But  there  was  still  much  work  ahead;  an  administration, 
finance,  army  and  navy  had  all  to  be  created,  not  to  mention 
the  necessity  of  finding  a  modus  vivendi  with  the  Pope,  who, 
outraged  by  his  spoliation,  had  excommunicated  the  king, 
Cavour,  his  rebellious  subjects — in  fact,  everybody  connected 
with  the  revolution.  The  new  constructive  work  had 
hardly  been  begun  when  the  great  Cavour  died  (June,  1861), 
and  the  cloak  of  the  statesman  fell  upon  the  shoulders  of 
well-meaning  but  uninspired  politicians. 

Victor  Emmanuel,  conscious  that  his  task  was  incom- 
plete, continued  to  look  longingly  toward  Venetia  and  Rome, 
but  was  resolved  to  bide  his  time.  Two  great  European 
crises  furnished  him  the  opportunity  to  realize  his  hopes.  In 
the  year  1866  there  broke  out  the  long-threatening  war  in 
Italy  acquires  Germany  between  Austria  and  Prussia.  Prussia  naturally 
Venetia,  1866.     ^pp^^jg^j  j^  j^^jy  f^j.  heip^  ^nd  the  two  powers,  upon  both 

of  whom  Austria  rested  like  an  incubus,  made  an  alliance. 
Austria  was  obliged  to  face  two  enemies  at  once;  and  al- 
though victorious  over  Italy,  defeating  her  army  at  Custozza 
(June  24th)  and  her  navy  at  Lissain  the  Adriatic  (July  20th) 
was  so  conclusively  crushed  by  Prussia  at  Sadowa  that  she 
had  to  sign  a  peace.  In  the  hope  of  winning  French  favor,  the 
emperor  of  Austria  had,  on  receipt  of  the  news  of  Sadowa, 
handed  over  Venetia  as  a  present  to  Napoleon  III.,  but  the 
French  emperor  at  the  conclusion  of  peace  transferred  the 
province  to  Victor  Emmanuel.  Venetia  was  presently  in- 
corporated with  Italy,  and  in  November  the  old  republic  of 
St.  Mark  gave  the  king  a  stirring  and  patriotic  welcome. 
Rome  now  alone  remained  outside  the  reconstituted  na- 


And  the   Unification  of  Italy  46y 


tion.  If  the  question  had  been  submitted  to  the  vote  of  the 
Romans  whether  they  wished  to  be  governed  by  the  Pope  or 
by  the  king,  there  can  be  no  doubt  for  whom  they  would 
have  declared.  But  French  troops  held  the  city  for  the 
Pope,  and  Napoleon  made  it  plain  that  much  as  he  had  done 
for  Italian  unity,  his  complaisance  stopped  at  the  walls  of 
the  Eternal  City.  To  snatch  Rome  from  the  Pope  would 
have  precipitated  a  French  war.  Again  the  cautious  Victor 
Emmanuel  resolved  to  be  patient  and  let  time  work  for  him. 
In  the  year  1870  broke  out  the  famous  war  between  France 
and  Prussia;  and  although  the  king  of  Italy  took  no  hand 
in  it,  his  country  profited  from  the  conflict.  Napoleon, 
hard  pressed,  withdrew  his  troops  from  Rome  and  shortly 
after  was  completely  overwhelmed  at  Sedan.  There  was 
now  no  one  to  hinder  the  march  upon  Rome.     In  Septem-   Italy  acquires 

,  Rome,  1870. 

ber,  1870,  the  Italian  army  appeared  before  the  gates  and 
forced  its  way  into  the  city  amid  the  plaudits  of  the  citizens. 
Pius  IX.,  abandoned  by  the  Catholic  powers,  fulminated 
anathemas  upon  his  despoilers,  but  was  permitted  to  retain 
the  Vatican  palace  and  live  there  unmolested.  The  Vat- 
ican, flanking  St.  Peter's  Church,  has  since  been  the  Pope's 
official  residence,  but  the  ancient  City  of  the  Seven  Hills 
Was  declared  the  capital  of  the  Italian  state. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE   UNIFICATION   OF   GERMANY 

References:  Fyffe,  Modern  Europe,  Chapters  XXIII.- 
XXIV.;  Phillips,  Modern  Europe,  Chapters  XVI.- 
XVIII. ;  Seignobos,  Europe  Since  1814,  Chapter  XV.; 
Andrews,  Modern  Europe,  Vol.  II.,  Chapters  V.-VI; 
Henderson,  Short  History  of  Germany,  Vol.  II.,  Chap- 
ters IX.-X.;  Von  Sybel,  Founding  of  the  German 
Empire  by  William  I.  (solid,  based  on  the  public  rec- 
ords); Lowe,  Prince  Bismarck;  Headlam,  Bi.sma,rck; 
MuNROE  SiVHTH,  Bismarck  and  German  Unity. 

Source  Readings:  Robinson,  Readings,  Vol.  II.,  Chapter 
XL.,  Sections  4-5  (Koniggratz,  the  Spanish  episode, 
etc.);  BusCH,  Bismarck:  Some  Secret  Pages  of  his 
History;  Whitman,  Personal  Reminiscences  of  Prince 
Bismarck;  Bismarck,  Reflections  and  Reminiscences. 

Prussia  under  The  many  heartrending  failures  of  the  year  1848  in  Ger- 
many had  at  least  made  clear  that  Prussia  was  the  pivot  of 
German  politics.  The  ensuing  reaction  spread  a  darkness 
over  the  land,  but  even  in  this  situation  it  was  felt  to  be 
a  distinct  advantage  that  Prussia  had  acquired  a  constitu- 
tional government.  The  unmanly  conduct  of  the  ministry 
during  the  crisis  injured  the  reputation  of  the  state  and  re- 
duced its  influence  to  nothing  as  long  as  the  discredited 
Frederick  William  IV.  occupied  the  throne.  But,  owing  to 
symptoms  of  insanity,  he  retired  from  power  in  1858  in  favor 
of  his  Ijrother  William,  who  definitely  became  king  on  the 
demise  of  the  sovereign  in  1861. 

468 


TJie   Unification  of  Germany  469 


The  advent  of  William  I.  marks  the  beginning  of  a  new  William  I. 
era  in  Prussian  history.     Endowed,  in  sharp  contrast  to  his  formofthe 
romantic  brother,  with  a  matter-of-fact  mind,  he  straightway  ^™y- 
took  up  an  urgent  practical  reform.     Having  become  con- 
vinced that  the  Prussian  army  was  not  what  it  ought  to  be, 
he  resolved  to  make  it  more  effective.     He  had  in  this  con- 
nection no  great  plans  for  the  future  of  Germany;  he  simply 
undertook  the  thing  which  lay  immediately  at  hand.     The 
Prussian  army  was  a  creation  of  the  War  of  Liberation  and 
was  based  on  the  principle  of  a  universal  three-year  service 
with  the  colors.     It  was  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word  a 
popular  army  {das  Volk  in  Waff  en).     In  practice,  however, 
many  exemptions  had  been  allowed,  and  the  service  had 
been  reduced  from  three  to  two  years.     The  king,  a  born 
soldier,  saw  that  if  he  apj^lied  the  system  rigorously  he  would 
have  not  only  a  larger  army,  but  also,  owing  to  the  longer 
drill,  a  more  perfect  machine.     Plainly,  the  measure  would 
necessitate  a  greater  expenditure;  but  as  the  reform  was 
reasonable  and  along  the  line  of  existing  laws,  William  had 
no  fear  of  Parliamentary  opposition.     He  was  mistaken. 
The  Parliament  disliked  both  the  lengthened  service  and  the 
increased  expenditure;  and  after  having  voted  the  reform 
provisionally,  refused  definitely,  in  1S61,  to  sanction  it.     As 
the  king,  nevertheless,  went  ahead  with  the  military  reorgan- 
ization, Prussia  embarked  upon  a  bitter  and  prolonged  con- 
flict between  executive  and  Parliament,  wherein  the  people 
for  the   most   part    enthusiastically  supported  their  repre- 
sentatives. 

Outvoted  and  discouraged,  the  king  in  1S62  called  into   Bismarck, 
his  cabinet  as  prime  minister  the  man  who  was  destined  not   m'i'^ster. 
only  to  break  the  opposition  of  the  Parliament,  but  also  to 
bring  about  the  unification  of  Germany.     Otto  von  Bis- 
marck was  a  Brandenburg  squire  of  ancient  lineage,  who  in 
the  revolution  of  1848  had  fearlessly  defended  the  royal  pre- 


470 


TJie   Unification  of  Germany 


Bismarck's 

struggle  with 
the  Parliament. 


Schleswig  and 
Holstein  break 
away  from 
Denmark. 


Prussia  and 
Austria  wage 
war  with 
Denmark, 
1864. 


rogative  against  the  democratic  innovators.  lie  had  since 
entered  upon  a  diplomatic  career,  had  served  at  Frankfort 
with  the  Bund,  at  St.  Petersburg  and  Paris,  and  had  acquired 
the  true  vision  of  the  statesman.  The  programme  with 
which  he  took  power  was  to  maintain  the  reorganized  army 
at  all  costs,  and  use  it,  as  soon  as  practicable,  for  the  purpose 
of  settling  old  scores  with  Austria. 

When  he  announced  to  the  members  of  Parliament,  with 
his  habitual  self-assurance,  that  the  government  had  no 
idea  of  changing  its  army  policy,  a  terrific  storm  was  dis- 
charged upon  his  head.  Not  only  the  Parliament  but  the 
masses  became  more  and  more  hostile,  till  the  stubborn 
minister's  name  became  a  bword  and  a  reproach.  For  a 
few  months  things  went  steadily  from  bad  to  worse,  and  the 
word  revolution  was  already  being  whispered  through  the 
land,  when  there  occurred  a  succession  of  events  which 
gradually  drew  the  public  attention  elsewhither,  and  ended 
by  brilliantly  justifying  the  king  and  his  unyielding  minister. 

In  the  year  1863  occurred  the  long-expected  death  of  Fred- 
erick VII.  of  Denmark,  the  last  male  of  his  line.  He  was 
succeeded,  by  virtue  of  the  European  agreement  known  as 
the  Protocol  of  London,  by  his  relative  Christian  IX.,  but 
the  duchies  of  Schleswig  and  Holstein,  never  having  rati- 
fied the  agreement,  immediately  proclaimed  the  duke  of  Au- 
gustenburg,  who  was,  according  to  tlieir  view,  the  rightful 
heir.  They  coupled  with  the  proclamation  of  the  duke 
the  announcement  of  their  separation  from  Denmark,  in  or- 
der to  unite  with  Germany.  German  public  opinion,  stirred 
to  its  depths,  heartily  supported  the  project. 

The  Bund  at  Frankfort,  anxious  to  curry  popular  favor, 
resolved  to  interfere  in  behalf  of  the  Schleswig-Holsteiners, 
but  before  it  could  get  well  under  way  Bismarck  pushed  it 
aside  by  persuading  Austria  to  settle  the  issue  conjointly 
with  Prussia.     He  had  no  faith  in  the  ability  of  the  Bund  to 


The   Unification  of  Germany  471 


dc  anything  eflfectively,  and  hence  followed  his  own  line  of 
action.  Christian  IX.  immediately  upon  his  accession  had 
signed  a  bill,  passed  by  the  Danish  legislature,  incorporating 
Schleswig,  that  is,  the  northernmost  of  the  two  provinces, 
with  Denmark.  This  was  contrary  to  the  Protocol  of 
London,  which  recognized  Christian  as  king  of  Denmark 
on  the  understanding  that  he  would  respect  the  autonomy 
of  the  duchies.  Prussia  and  Austria  demanded  that  the 
new  hw  be  annulled,  failing  which  they  would  declare  war. 
When  Christian  remained  obdurate,  Prussian  and  Austrian 
troops,  in  January,  1864,  entered  the  duchies  side  by  side, 
and  in  a  swift  campaign  brought  Denmark  to  her  knees. 
In  August,  Christian  IX.  ceded  Schleswig  and  Holstein  to 
the  victors. 

Now  that  Prussia  and  Austria  possessed  the  duchies,  the   Bismarck 
question  was  how  to  divide  the  spoils.     Of  course  the  di-   Austria  over 
vision  turned  out,  as  Bismarck  had  foreseen,  a  difficult  mat-   s^.hfe'Jwig-"  °^ 
ter.     And  now  the  Prussian  statesman  could  take  a  step  Holstein. 
toward  the  fulfilment  of  his  most  ardent  hopes,  which  had 
long  been  aimed  at  the  expulsion  of  Austria  from  Germany. 
While  picking  a  quarrel  with  his  late  ally  over  the  Schleswig- 
Holstein  booty,  he  steadily  prepared  for  war.     Finally,  in 
the  spring  of  1866,  Prussia  signed  a  close  alliance  with  Italy, 
while  Austria,  for  her  part,  strove  to  get  the  support  of  the 
smaller  German  states.     And  owing  to  the  fact  that  Bis- 
marck's policy  of  violence  aroused  in  Germany  a  general 
fear  of  the  Prussian  plans,  almost  all  the  southern  and  cen- 
tral states  now  actually  placed  themselves  under  the  wings 
of  the  older  and  more  conservative  German  power. 

These   dispositions   made — Prussia   having   secured   the  Meaning  of 
support  of  Italy,  and  Austria  the  alliance  of  Saxony,  Hanover,    1855 
and  all  the  South  German  states — in  June,  1866,  the  two 
apparently  well-matched  combatants  took  the  field.     The 
contest  was  the  culmination  of  the  rivalry  inaugurated  over 


472 


TJie   Unification  of  Germany 


Disposition 
of  tne  forces. 


Sadowa  or 
Koniggratz, 
July  3,  1 866. 


The  Peace  of 
Prague  and 
the  greatness 
of  Prussia. 


a  hundred  years  ago  at  the  time  of  Frederick  the  Great  and 
Maria  Theresa;  the  prize  of  the  winner,  the  supremacy  in 
Germany. 

Although  a  part  of  the  Prussian  army  had  to  be  detached 
against  the  German  allies  of  Austria,  the  Austrians,  too,  were 
hindered  from  complete  concentration  by  the  obligation  of 
sending  an  army  to  Venetia  to  defend  that  province  against 
the  Italians.  Weakened  only  by  these  subtractions,  the 
Austrians  and  Prussians,  massed  in  two  great  armies,  made 
ready  to  meet  each  other  in  Bohemia.  This  meeting,  it  was 
evident,  would  decide  the  war. 

Now  it  was  seen  that  King  William's  plan  of  a  strong  and 
modern  army  had  its  merits.  The  Prussians  were  ready 
sooner  than  the  Austrians,  and  showed  themselves  to  be 
much  better  armed  and  disciplined.  By  the  admirable 
arrangements  of  the  great  strategist  Moltke,  three  Prussian 
columns  were  made  to  converge  upon  the  Austrians,  and 
catching  them  at  Sadowa,  in  Bohemia,  on  July  3d,  as  in  a 
vice,  crushed  them  utterly.  The  war  had  hardly  begun 
when  it  was  over.  It  was  of  little  consequence  that  the  Aus- 
trians in  Italy  defeated  the  Italians  at  Custozza,  or  that  the 
Prussians  completed  their  triumph  by  defeating  the  South 
Germans.  Austria  was  humbled  by  Prussia,  and  had  to 
make  peace.  A  truce  in  July  was  followed  in  August,  1866, 
by  the  definitive  Peace  of  Prague. 

By  the  Peace  of  Prague  Austria  withdrew  from  German 
affairs,  ceded  her  rights  in  Schleswig-Holstein  to  Prussia, 
and  left  Prussia  free  to  form  a  confederation  of  the  states  of 
North  Germany.  The  South  German  states  were  accorded 
the  right  to  form  a  federation  of  their  own.  Although  Aus- 
tria made  the  further  sacrifice  of  Venetia,  which  was  sur- 
rendered to  Italy,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  her  losses, 
in  view  of  the  immensity  of  her  disaster,  were  not  crushing. 
As  soon  as  these  arrangements  were  assured,  Bismarck  made 


The   Unification  of  Germany  473 


peace  with  the  German  aUies  of  Austria.  He  let  off  Bavaria, 
Wurtemberg,  Baden,  and  Hesse,  constituting  the  South  Ger- 
man states,  with  money  fines;  but  certain  hostile  North  Ger- 
man states,  like  Hanover,  Nassau,  and  Hesse-Cassel,  which 
drove  a  wedge  between  the  mass  of  Prussia  and  her  pos- 
sessions on  the  Rhine,  he  incorporated  with  the  monarchy 
of  the  Hohenzollerns.  The  war  made  Prussia  paramount 
in  Germany,  but  as  long  as  the  South  German  states  re- 
mained aloof  from  North  Germany,  national  unity  was  in- 
complete. It  took  another  war,  the  war  with  France,  to 
crown  Bismarck's  national  policy. 

Meanwhile,  the  Peace  left  Bismarck  free  to  establish  a  The  North 
North  German  Confederation.  In  the  stress  of  civil  war,  the  federation, 
old  Bund  had,  of  course,  gone  to  its  reward,  with  no  greater 
outburst  of  sorrow  than  had  attended  the  demise  of  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire.  For  the  first  time  in  its  history  Germany 
was  to  have  a  strong  union.  The  states  which  joined  it  ac- 
cepted the  king  of  Prussia  as  president,  while  the  legislative 
power  was  intrusted  to  a  Federal  Council  or  Bundesrath, 
representing  the  participating  governments,  and  a  Parlia- 
ment or  Reichstag,  representing  the  people  and  elected  by 
universal  suffrage.  Although  the  component  states  pre- 
served their  separate  organization,  they  practically  lost  their 
sovereign  rights,  which  were  exercised  by  the  king  of  Prussia 
(as  president),  the  Bundesrath,  and  the  Reichstag.  The 
South  German  states,  free  to  form  a  confederation  of  their 
own,  failed  to  do  so,  and  occupied  a  very  unsatisfactory 
position  as  wandering  comets  of  the  German  system,  until  a 
new  crisis  drew  them  into  the  North  German  Confederation. 

The  crisis,  which  constitutes  the  last  step  in  the  unifica-  The  Mexican 
tion  of  Germany,  was  precipitated  by  the  strained  relations   "^"     ^' 
between  the  North  German  Confederation  and  France.     We 
parted  from  the  Emperor  Napoleon  on  the  occasion  of  his 
victorious  campaign  of  1859  in  Italy.     While  contributing 


474  TJu   Unification  of  Gerviany 

immensely  to  the  liberation  of  Italy,  he  had  not  failed  to  col- 
lect a  small  fee  for  services  in  the  form  of  Nice  and  Savoy. 
The  Italian  campaign  marks  the  last  occasion  on  which  his 
ventures  prospered.  Owing  to  his  persistent  occupation  of 
Rome  with  French  troops  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the 
Pope,  he  sacrificed  the  good-will  of  the  Italian  nation,  won 
upon  the  battlefield,  and  made  himself  almost  as  detested 
as  the  Austrians.  Then  in  an  evil  hour  he  turned  his 
desires  upon  the  New  World.  He  was  induced  to  interfere 
in  the  internal  affairs  of  Mexico,  and  proceeding  from  one 
measure  to  another  ended  by  overturning  the  republic  and 
setting  up  an  empire  under  the  Archduke  Maximilian, 
brother  of  the  emperor  of  Austria.  His  candidate  landed 
in  Mexico  in  1864.  The  great  American  Civil  War  was 
just  at  its  height,  and  the  United  States  was  too  embarrassed 
to  do  more  than  register  a  weak  protest  against  this  viola- 
tion of  the  Monroe  Doctrine;  but  as  soon  as  the  Civil  War 
was  over  the  government  at  Washington  gave  Napoleon  to 
understand  that  he  must  withdraw  immediately.  Napoleon 
shuffled  awhile,  but  did  not  have  the  courage  to  face  the 
consequences.  The  French  sailed  for  Europe,  and  Maxi- 
milian, deserted  by  his  allies,  was  captured  and  shot  (1867)- 
Thereupon  the  Mexicans  reestablished  their  republic. 
France  grows  The  shame  of  this  disgraceful  ending  was  not  the  only 

Pnissia."  hapless  feature  about  the  Mexican  adventure,  for,  owing  to 

the  absence  of  the  best  French  troops  in  the  New  World, 
Napoleon  could  exercise  no  influence  on  the  issue  of  the 
Austro-Prussian  War  of  1866.  Prussia  won,  established  her 
supremacy  in  Germany,  and  refused  France  any  sort  of 
territorial  equivalent.  Napoleon's  position  was  profoundly 
shaken.  The  French  people  were  angry  that  the  oppor- 
tunity of  the  embarrassment  of  the  German  powers  had  not 
been  used  to  realize  that  cherished  dream,  the  Rhine  boun- 
dary, and  were  offended  because  their  eastern  neighbor  had 


TJie   Unification  of  Germany  475 


become  strong  and  united.  More  and  more  passionately 
public  opinion  began  to  insist  that  the  audacity  of  Prussia 
must  be  checked.  Consequently,  the  relations  of  the  two 
neighbors  became  gradually  worse.  A  little  incident  sufficed 
to  precipitate  war. 

In  the  year  1868  a  revolution  had  occurred  in  Spain  by  The  Spanish 
which  the  Bourbon  sovereign,  Queen  Isabella,  was  expelled. 
Ever  since,  the  Spanish  leaders  had  been  looking  about 
Europe  for  a  new  king,  and  finally  offered  the  crown  to 
Leopold  of  HohenzoUern-Sigmaringen,  a  distant  relative  of 
the  king  of  Prussia.  The  prospect  of  a  German  prince 
upon  the  Spanish  throne  greatly  excited  French  opinion, 
and  Napoleon  hastened  to  protest.  Prince  Leopold's  wise 
refusal  of  the  crown  quieted  alarm,  until,  in  an  evil  hour,  it 
occurred  to  the  French  Government  to  insist  that  King 
William  should  promise  never  to  permit  his  relative  to  be- 
come a  candidate  in  the  future.  On  July  13,  1870,  the 
French  ambassador  made  this  unnecessary  demand  while 
William  was  taking  the  waters  at  Ems.  He  indignantly 
refused,  scenting  in  the  proposal  an  effort  to  humiliate  him 
before  the  public  opinion  of  Europe;  whereupon  Napoleon, 
aroused  by  the  rebuff  and  moved  by  various  court  in- 
fluences, persuaded  the  French  legislature  to  declare  war 
(July  19th). 

The  advantages  in  the  struggle  which  now  ensued  were,   Theadvan- 

■  1     T-.  •  riM       c     ^  tagfs  are  witt 

from  the  beguinmg,  with  Prussia.  Ihe  hrst  success  was  Prussia. 
achieved  in  connection  with  the  South  German  states. 
Napoleon  was  hoping  that  they  would,  out  of  aversion  for 
Prussia,  side  with  him,  but  the  far-seeing  Bismarck  had 
provided  for  just  such  an  emergency.  Immediately  after 
the  war  of  1866  he  had  signed  offensive  and  defensive  treaties 
with  the  South  German  states,  which  obliged  them  to  fight 
shoulder  to  shoulder  with  Prussia.  Even  without  these  al- 
liances, however,  the  South  German  governments  would  not 


4/6 


The   Unification  of  Germany 


The  early 

German 

victories. 


The  invest- 
ments of  Metz 
and  Paris. 


have  remained  neutral,  for  the  people  were  aroused  to  ex- 
plosive enthusiasm  and  insisted  on  regarding  the  cause  of 
Prussia  as  that  of  all  Germany.  From  a  purely  military 
point  of  view,  too,  the  preliminary  honors  were  all  with 
the  German  side.  Prussia  and  her  allies  were  ready  sooner, 
and  mustered  a  larger  and  better-organized  army.  In  con- 
sequence, the  famous  Moltke,  who  had  the  campaign  in 
charge,  could  assume  the  offensive  and  invade  France. 

The  Germans  found  the  French  drawn  up  in  two  main 
bodies,  one  in  Alsace  under  General  MacMahon,  the  other 
m  Lorraine,  under  Napoleon  himself.  A  simultaneous  at- 
tack on  August  6th  was  cro%vned  with  a  double  victory, 
obliging  MacMahon  to  abandon  Alsace,  and  Napoleon  to  fall 
back  on  the  great  fortress  of  Metz.  The  combined  German 
armies  thereupon  attacked  the  French  around  Metz,  and  by 
three  bloody  battles,  culminating  in  the  battle  of  Gravelotte 
(August  1 8th),  succeeded  in  blocking  the  French  retreat 
and  bottling  up  the  best  French  army  in  the  chief  fortress  of 
the  eastern  frontier.  Before  the  situation  around  Metz  had 
become  acute,  Napoleon  made  his  escape  to  the  army  of 
MacMahon,  which  he  now  tried  to  bring  up,  as  fast  as  pos- 
sible, to  the  relief  of  Metz,  But  he  was  ruinously  defeated 
at  Sedan  and  obliged  to  surrender  with  his  whole  army 
(September  2d).  After  a  moving  interview  with  King 
William  he  was  sent  to  Germany  as  a  prisoner  of  war. 

Thus  far  the  campaign  had  been  admirably  managed  on 
the  part  of  General  IMoltke.  The  war  had  hardly  lasted  a 
month,  and  already  Napoleon,  at  the  head  of  one  of  the 
French  armies,  had  been  captured,  while  the  second  French 
army,  commanded  by  Bazaine,  was  locked  up  in  Metz.  Ap- 
parently, it  remained  only  to  march  upon  Paris  and  dictate 
terms  of  peace.  Accordingly,  a  German  army  of  200,000 
men  proceeded  westward,  and  toward  the  end  of  September 
undertook  the  investment  of  the  French  capital. 


The   Unification  of  Germany  477 

Meanwhile,  important  things  had  happened  in  the  capital.  The  Third 
The  calamity  of  Sedan  was  hardly  known  when  the  whole 
city  of  Paris  rose  in  indignation  against  the  luckless  imperial 
government.  The  Empress  Eugenie  fled  in  dismay  amid 
scenes  of  wild  disorder,  and  France  was  declared  a  republic 
(September  4th). ^  At  the  same  time  a  number  of  men,  the 
most  prominent  of  whom  was  Gambetta,  set  up,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  effectively  prosecuting  the  war,  the  Government  of 
the  National  Defence. 

The  siege  of  Paris  marks  the  last  stage  of  the  war.     If  the  Capitulation 
Germans  entertained  the  hope  of  settling  things  in  a  few  lowed  by 
weeks,  they  were  greatly  mistaken.     Gambetta,  supported  P^^^^- 
by  the  opinion  of  the  country,  made  a  most  active  and  hon- 
orable resistance,  but  his  raw  levies  were  no  match,  in  the 
long  run,  for  the  disciplined  soldiers  of  the  enemy.     The 
surrender  of  Bazaine  at  Metz,  on  October  27th,  withdrew 
from  the  war  the   last  veteran  army  which  France  boasted, 
but  still  the  Parisians  held  out,  until  forced  by  hunger  they 
at  last,  on  January  28,  187 1,  signed  a  capitulation.     The 
war  was  over.     France  had  to  buy  peace  from  Germany  by 
paying  an  indemnity  of  one  billion  dollars,  and  by  ceding 
Alsace  and  a  part  of  Lorraine.^     In  March  the  Germans 
began  the  evacuation  of  the  French  territory. 

But  it  was  not  the  old  divided  fatherland  to  which  the  King  William 
German  soldiers  returned.     The  great  victories  won  by  the   ^^^  emperor, 

united  efforts  of  north  and  south  had  aroused  a  boundless   January  18, 

1071. 

enthusiasm.  In  all  circles  the  feeling  prevailed  that  the 
present  happy  military  union  must  take  a  constitutional 
form;  and,  yielding  to  this  sentiment,  the  South  German 

'  The  republic  of  September  4th  is  known  generaUy  as  the  Third 
Republic.  The  First  Republic  was  proclaimed  in  1792  and  destroyed  by 
Napoleon  in  1799;  the  Second  Republic  belongs  to  the  period  i84S-i;i; 
and  the  Third  Republic,  of  1S70,  the  most  long-lived  of  all,  exists  at  this 
day. 

2  The  preliminary  treaty,  signed  at  Versailles,  was  in  May,  1871,  con- 
verted into  the  definitive  Peace  of  Frankfort. 


4/8 


Tlie   Unification  of  Germany 


The  Com- 
mune. 


\'irtory  of 
the  National 
Assembly. 


governments  signed  agreements  with  Prussia  by  which  they 
entered  the  North  German  Confederation.  It  was  further 
stipulated  that  the  Confederation  was  to  be  rebaptized  the 
German  Empire,  and  that  its  president,  the  king  of  Prussia, 
should  take  the  title  German  emperor.  On  January  i8, 
187 1,  the  edifice  of  German  unity  was  completed  and  the 
fact  proclaimed  to  the  world  from  the  Hall  of  Mirrors  in 
Louis  XIV.'s  sumptuous  palace  at  Versailles.  Bismarck,  the 
architect  of  Germany,  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  prince,  and 
became  the  head  of  the  national  cabinet  under  the  name 
of  chancellor. 

France,  in  the  month  following  the  treaty  with  Germany, 
went  through  a  terrible  crisis.  The  peace  had  been  author- 
ized by  an  Assembly  freely  elected  by  the  people  and  con- 
vened at  Bordeaux.  This  body  gave  Thiers,  a  man  of  sound 
conservative  views,  the  provisional  executive  authority,  but, 
being  largely  composed  of  monarchists,  refused  to  declare 
for  a  republic.  In  March,  as  soon  as  peace  was  assured,  the 
Assembly  removed  to  Versailles  in  order  to  be  nearer  Paris. 
Meanwhile,  the  strong  republican  element  of  Paris  had  be- 
come very  suspicious  of  the  conservative  intentions  of  the 
Assembly,  and  presently  a  group  of  revolutionists,  rising 
in  insurrection,  set  up  what  purported  to  be  a  thorough- 
going democratic  government,  called  the  Commune.  They 
terrorized  the  middle  classes  into  submission  and  prepared 
to  resist  Thiers  and  the  National  Assembly,  if  necessary,  by 

arms. 

The  result  was  a  bitter  civil  war,  lasting  two  months 
(March-May,  187 1).  Insurgent  Paris  was  regularly  be- 
sieged, this  time  by  the  national  government  of  France. 
But  the  loyalty  of  the  troops  decided  the  issue,  and  in  INlay 
the  insurgents  made  their  last  stand  in  the  heart  of  the 
capital.  When  resistance  became  useless,  a  few  desperadoes 
attempted  to  set  fire  to  Paris  and  actually  succeeded  in 


The   Unification  of  Germany  479 

destroying  the  Tuileries,  the  City  Hall,  and  a  few  other  his- 
torical structures.  The  exasperated  victors  knew  no  mercy. 
Thousands  of  men,  called  communists,  but  really  repre- 
senting every  shade  of  democratic  opinion,  were  shot  without 
trial,  thousands  were  transported  or  condemned  to  imprison- 
ment with  hard  labor.  The  National  Assembly  became  the 
unchallenged  government  of  all  France.  How  would  it  order 
the  future  of  the  country?  The  year  which  gave  birth  to  a 
strong  imperial  government  in  Germany  brought  defeated 
and  discouraged  France  to  a  point  where  her  best  friends 
might  despair  of  her  destiny. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

GREAT  BRITAIN  IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

References:  Seignobos,  Europe  Since  1815,  Chapters 
II.-IV.;  Terry,  History  of  Englahd,  pp.  976-1068; 
Gardiner,  Student's  History  of  England,  pp.  875-970; 
Erskine  May,  The  Constitutional  History  of  England 
(1760-1871);  McCarthy,  History  of  Our  Own  Times; 
also,  Ireland  Since  the  Union;  Bryce,  Two  Centuries 
of  Irish  History,  1689-1870;  Malleson,  The  Indian 
Mutiny;  Payne,  Colonies  and  Dependencies;  Dilke, 
Problems  of  Greater  Britain;  Morley,  Life  of  Glad- 
stone. For  biographical  matter  (Canning,  Wellington, 
Palmerston,  Disraeli,  etc.)  see  the  Dictionary  of  Na- 
tional Biography. 

Source  Readings:  Adams  and  Stephens,  Select  Docu- 
ments, Nos.  259-76  (The  Reform  Acts  of  1832  and  1867; 
Disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church,  etc.);  Colby,  Se- 
lections from  the  Sources,  Nos.  11 2-1 7. 

Great  Britain  At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  ceotury  the  govern- 

of  theNa^*^  ment  of  Great  Britain  was  still  legally  vested  in  king,  Lords, 
poleonic  wars,  ^j^^  Commons,  but  the  really  decisive  influence  had  shifted, 
as  we  have  seen,  to  the  third  partner,  for  the  Commons  not 
only  voted  supplies  and  made  laws,  but  also  controlled  the 
ministry  and  the  administration.  The  eighteenth  century, 
which  had  created  this  Parliamentary  government,  witnessed 
also  the  successful  transformation  of  England  into  the  great- 
est commercial  and  colonial  power  of  the  world.  India  and 
America  had  been  won  from  France;  and  though  this  advan- 
tage was  in  part  offset  by  the  revolt  of  the  American  colonies, 

a8o 


Great  Britain  in  the  Nineteenth  Century      481 

the  long  wars  with  the  French  republic  and  Napoleon  had 
made  clear  to  all  eyes  that  England  was  without  an  equal 
upon  the  seas.  For  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century  (1793- 
18 1 5)  the  old  rivals,  France  and  England,  waged  a  bitter 
and  engrossing  strife;  and  when  Napoleon  was  at  last  over- 
thrown, England,  like  the  states  of  the  Continent,  heaved  a 
sigh  of  relief.  The  next  years  are  marked  by  weariness  and 
reaction.  But  they  are  also  characterized  by  signs  of  a 
gathering  reform  movement,  which  was  set  on  abolishing 
the  accumulated  abuses  in  state  and  society. 

These  abuses  were  so  patent  and  unreasonable  that  it  is  Theconsenra- 
not  credible  that  they  would  have  been  maintained  against  iand.°     "^" 
popular  protest  for  even  a  day,  if  the  storms  of  the  French 
Revolution  had  not  created  among  the  English  governing 
classes  a  general  distrust  against  innovations  of  any  sort. 
The  maintenance  of  existing  institutions  became  their  creed 
as  it  was  that  of  Metternich.     Now  this  prevailing  conserv- 
atism was  championed  by  the  Tory  party,  which  having 
conducted  the  government  during  the  war,  harvested  the 
prestige  associated  with  its  successful   termination.     The 
Tory  party,  therefore,  continued  in  power  after  the  war  and, 
following  along  established  lines,  set  its  teeth  so  vehemently 
against  reform  that  Castlereagh,  the  minister  for  foreign  af- 
fairs, even  went  the  length  of  hitching  England  to  the  chariot 
of  the  Holy  Alliance.     But  this  unnatural  condition  could 
not  last.     A  group  of  young  Tories  were  more  amenable  to  The  Can- 
progress;  and  when  in  1822,  on  the  death  of  Castlereagh,   "'"S' ^^• 
their  leader,  Canning,  assumed  the  foreign  portfolio,  Eng- 
land took  her  first  timid  steps  on  the  road  to  improvement. 
Canning  courageously  broke  with  the  Holy  Alliance.     He 
protected  Portugal  against  an  absolutist  restoration,  joined 
the  United  States  in  recognizing  the  independence  of  the 
South  American  republics,  and  helped  prepare  the  liberation 
of  Greece.     A  new  breath  of  life  was  carried  into  domestic 


482       Great  B?-itain  in  the  Nineteenth  Centurv 


Religious 
freedom, 
182S-29. 


The  need  of 

Parliamentary 

reform. 


affairs  too;  but  Canning  died  in  1827,  before  very  much  had 
been  done  in  this  field. 

Nevertheless,  owing  largely  to  the  impulse  given  by  Can- 
ning, a  series  of  acts  were  passed  in  1828  and  1829  which 
are  a  noble  beginning  of  British  reform  legislation  in  the 
nineteenth  century.  They  affected  the  status  of  Protestant 
Dissenters  and  Roman  Catholics.  The  freedom  of  worship 
granted  to  the  former  in  1689  had  been  since  extended  to  the 
latter  also,  but  both  groups  were,  chiefly  by  the  Test  Act 
of  1673,  excluded  from  holding  public  office.  In  1828  the 
Test  Act  was  repealed,  and  in  consequence  the  Dissenters 
were  put  on  an  equality  with  Anglicans  and  made  eligible  to 
all  posts  in  the  gift  of  the  state.  So  abiding,  however,  was 
the  prejudice  against  the  Roman  Catholics  that  certain  regu- 
lations excluding  them  from  both  Houses  of  Parliament  were 
kept  in  force.  Under  the  lash  of  this  injustice  a  passionate 
Irishman,  Daniel  O'Connell,  started  a  campaign  which  took 
such  an  ominous  form  among  his  countrymen  that  the  gov- 
ernment became  alarmed,  and  passed  (1829)  the  Emancipa- 
tion Bill,  at  last  flinging  wide  the  doors  of  Parliament  to  the 
Catholic  subjects  of  the  crown  and  restoring  them  to  their 
full  civil  rights. 

Hardly  had  these  measures  of  religious  toleration  been 
carried  when  an  agitation  was  started  in  favor  of  the  reform 
of  Parliament  itself.  The  House  of  Commons,  indeed,  in- 
vited severe  criticism.  It  was  of  feudal  origin,  and  showed 
its  derivation  in  that  it  represented  not  the  nation,  but 
certain  privileged  bodies.  These  were  of  two  kinds,  the 
counties  and  the  boroughs.  The  counties  elected  186  mem- 
bers on  an  ungenerous  franchise  system,  but  were  hardly 
open  to  criticism  compared  with  the  boroughs,  which  were 
a  perfect  sink  of  corruption.  The  boroughs  elected  467 
members  by  methods  so  various  as  to  defy  description.  Suf- 
fice it  that  borough  members  were  ordinarily  elected  by  the 


Great  Britain  in  the  Nineteenth  Century      483 


Act  of  1832. 


town  corporations;  that  is,  by  privileged  bodies,  composed 
in  some  cases  of  no  more  than  a  handful  of  individuals.  In 
one  class  of  boroughs  a  rich  man,  usually  a  nobleman,  had  ac- 
quired the  right  of  naming  the  two  members  of  the  borough. 
They  represented  in  Parliament  nothing  but  himself.  Such  a 
borough  was  derisively  called  a  pocket-borough,  and  the  whole 
system,  as  is  plain  without  additional  details,  was  rotten  to  the 
core.  However,  as  a  further  feature,  filling  the  cup  of  injus- 
tice to  the  brim,  we  may  note  an  antiquated  system  of  distri- 
bution of  seats.  The  change  in  the  conditions  of  population 
produced  by  the  development  of  manufactures  in  the  north  of 
England  was  disregarded,  and  not  only  did  Leeds,  Birming- 
ham, and  other  important  new  towns  remain  unrepresented, 
but  the  whole  kingdom  of  Scotland  had  no  more  than  45 
members  against  the  44  of  the  backward  county  of  Cornwall. 

The  Whig  party,  which  championed  the  reform  of  Parlia-  The  Reform 
ment,  soon  won  such  favor  that  it  was  able  to  put  an  end  to 
the  long  Tory  rule.  In  1830  the  duke  of  Wellington,  who 
had  become  the  head  of  the  Tories  and  prime  minister  soon 
after  the  death  of  Canning,  was  obliged  to  resign  because  he 
declared  himself  satisfied  with  Parliamentary  representation 
as  it  was,  and  in  the  general  elections  of  183 1,  the  Whigs  for 
the  first  time  in  half  a  century  carried  a  majority  of  seats. 
Their  leader,  Earl  Grey,  now  brought  forward  a  Reform 
Bill  which,  after  meeting  with  violent  opposition  in  the  House 
of  Lords,  was  at  last  (1832)  accepted  by  both  houses.  The 
new  law  achieved  two  results:  (i)  By  suppression  of  the  rot- 
ten boroughs  143  seats  were  set  free  for  distribution  among 
the  towns  and  counties  which  were  not  sufficiently  repre- 
sented; and  (2)  by  a  more  uniform  and  more  liberal  electoral 
franchise  1   200,000  additional  subjects  were  conceded  the 

'  In  the  counties,  copyholders  and  leaseholders  of  lands  worth  £ro  a 
year  were  admitted  to  vote;  also  tenants-at-will  of  lands  worth  £^o.  \  n  ihe 
boroughs,  householders  (whether  as  owners  or  tenants)  of  houses  worth 
£10  a  year  were  given  the  same  privilege. 


484      Great  Britain  in  the  Nineteenth  Century 


Emergence  of 
the  working- 
man  as  a 
political  factor. 


right  to  vote.  Although  this  was  not  pure  democracy,  with 
its  corollary  of  universal  suffrage,  the  House  of  Commons  was 
henceforth  far  more  representative  of  the  nation,  and  better 
prepared  in  consequence  to  consider  measures  demanded 
by  the  pubUc  welfare. 

The  Reform  Act  of  1832  marks  the  beginning  of  the  legis- 
lation by  which  aristocratic  England  was  gradually  democ- 
ratized. The  Whigs,  reorganized  as  the  Liberal  party, 
undertook,  with  proper  safeguards  against  precipitancy,  to 
favor  this  process;  while  the  Tories,  known  henceforth  as 
Conservatives,  continued,  in  the  main,  to  oppose  change, 
but  wisely  accepted  every  reform  as  soon  as  it  had  become 
law.  Both  parties  continued  to  represent  largely  the  ancient 
aristocracy  of  the  soil  and  the  newer  aristocracy  of  wealth. 
But  the  Liberals  showed  the  effect  of  modern  thought  by  at- 
tempting to  secure  contact  with  the  masses.  And  that  brings 
us  to  a  matter  of  the  greatest  possible  importance.  Through 
the  discoveries  of  science  and  the  development  of  machinery, 
English  industry  had  been  tremendously  stimulated.  The 
presence  of  coal  and  iron  in  the  northern  and  western  counties 
had  occasioned  the  almost  magical  growth  of  new  towns  com- 
posed largely  of  laborers,  who,  for  the  present,  had  few  rights 
and  were  mercilessly  exploited  by  the  great  manufacturers. 
With  the  steady  growth  of  their  numbers  they  would  inev- 
itably develop  a  sense  of  power,  sure  to  take  the  form  of  a 
regular  programme  of  political  and  economic  rights.  The 
wild  agitation  known  as  the  Chartist  movement,  the  first  in- 
vasion into  politics  of  the  new  industrial  class,  apprised  the 
governing  group  that  the  workingmen  must  henceforth  be 
reckoned  with.  The  Chartist  movement  (1837-48),  so  called 
from  the  popular  petition  proclaimed  as  the  People's  Charter, 
aimed  chiefly  at  universal  suffrage;  and  although  it  failed  at 
the  first  onset  to  attain  its  object,  it  taught  the  masses  to 
organize  and  rally  around  the  new  ideal  of  democratic  justice. 


Great  Britain  in  the  Nineteenth  Century      485 

The  steady  pressure  of  an  increasingly  enlightened  press  Repeal  of  ths 
and  public  accounts  for  the  succeeding  reforms.  Let  us  first  °^"  ^^^* 
look  at  the  measures  adopted  in  connection  with  trade. 
England  had  thus  far  discouraged  importation  by  a  protective 
system,  the  chief  feature  of  which  was  a  high  duty  upon 
corn  or  grain.  The  people  who  profited  by  this  policy  were 
the  great  landholders,  while  the  measure  weighed  heavily 
upon  the  workingmen,  who  had  to  pay  an  inordinately  high 
price  for  bread.  Two  intelligent  employers  of  labor,  Richard 
Cobden  and  John  Bright,  undertook  a  campaign  to  instruct 
public  opinion,  and  in  1846  had  the  satisfaction  of  convincing 
the  ministry  and  Parliament  of  the  wisdom  of  repealing  the 
Corn  Laws.  With  agricultural  products  made  free,  there  Free  trade, 
seemed  no  good  reason  for  maintaining  the  tariff  upon  man- 
ufactured articles.  England  adopted  the  policy  of  free 
trade,  to  which,  in  spite  of  sporadic  opposition,  she  has  been 
steadily  loyal  for  over  half  a  century.  The  missing  revenue, 
without  which  the  state  could  not  live,  was  replaced  by  an 
income  tax. 

The  continued  agitation  in  favor  of  a  wider  suffrage  led,  Democratiza- 
in  the  course  of  the  century,  to  two  acts  supplementary  to  n°en°bv  the'^' 
the  reform  of  1832.     In  1867  the  Conservative  ministrv  of  Acts  of  1867 

""  '  ^  and  1884. 

Disraeli  succeeded  in  getting  a  measure  passed,  the  chief 
feature  of  which  was  the  lowering  of  the  property  quali- 
fication for  the  franchise;  and  in  1884  the  Liberal  ministry 
of  Gladstone  carried  a  bill  admitting  still  further  classes  to 
the  right  to  vote,  and  remedying  some  inequalities  of  repre- 
sentation. The  English  electoral  system  still  shows  some 
anomalies,  and  the  very  poor,  the  have-nothings,  cannot 
exercise  the  franchise,  but  the  right  to  vote  is  now  so  gen- 
erally extended  that  the  House  of  Commons  is  fairly  repre- 
sentative of  English  public  opinion,  and  constitutes  almost, 
if  not  quite,  a  democratic  body  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the 
term. 


486       Great  Britain  in  the  Nineteenth  Centiiry 

Other  reforms.  A  great  many  other  nineteenth  century  reforms,  covering 
almost  the  whole  field  of  social  organization,  can  be  done 
but  scant  justice  here.  By  an  extensive  factory  legislation 
Parliament  has  attempted  to  protect  children,  women,  and, 
finally,  the  v/orkingmen  themselves,  against  the  ruthless  ex- 
ploitation of  the  employers.  A  series  of  administrative  bills 
has  gradually  taken  the  local  government  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  aristocracy  and  given  it  to  councils  elected  by  the 
people.  At  the  same  time  the  whole  civil  service  has  been 
committed  to  a  paid  body  of  officials  with  permanent  tenure, 
in  consequence  of  which  a  change  of  ministry  in  our  day 
affects  only  the  heads  of  departments  and  can  no  longer 
shake  the  public  order. 

Ireland.  The  most  important  domestic  question  of  the  centur}^  re- 

mains to  be  considered:  its  name  is  Ireland.  With  the 
Catholic  Emancipation  Act  of  1829  a  beginning  had  been 
made  toward  redressing  the  heaped-up  wrongs  of  centuries. 
But  the  English  prejudice  against  the  Irish  was  strong  and 
persistent.  O'Connell,  the  Irish  leader,  inclined  to  the 
view  that  the  British  Parliament  would  never  do  justice  to 
his  country,  and  presently  began  to  agitate  for  the  repeal  of 
the  Act  of  Union  (1801)  by  which  Ireland  had  lost  its  legis- 
lative independence.  This  may  fairly  be  called  the  begin- 
ing  of  the  Home  Rule  movement.  With  such  a  policy  no 
English  party  would  sympathize;  but  when  in  1845  *^he  Irish 
potato-crop  failed  and  a  terrible  famine  ensued,  Parliament 
felt  obliged  to  do  something  to  alleviate  the  inhuman  con- 
ditions upon  the  lesser  island.  Thus  a  turning-point  was 
reached,  and  a  policy  of  legislative  enactments  inaugurated 
which  gives  proof  of  an  honorable  desire  to  remove  some  of 
the  most  crying  grievances.  In  1869  the  Anglican  Church, 
which  since  the  days  of  Elizabeth  had  been  also  the  national 
Church  of  Ireland,  was  disestablished.  Although  the  Church 
of  an  alien  people,  it  was  possessed  not  only  of  millions  of 


Great  Britain  in  the  Nineteenth  Century      487 

pounds  worth  of  buildings  and  lands,  but  also  drew  part  of  The  Irish  lane 
its  revenues,  in  the  form  of  tithes,  from  the  Irish  Catholics.  ^^^^ '°"' 
Now  only  did  Ireland  achieve  real  religious  equality.  The 
ministry  which  disestablished  the  Episcopal  Church  was 
presided  over  by  the  Liberal  leader,  Gladstone.  With  an 
appetite  whetted  by  success,  Gladstone  now  ventured  to 
attack  the  far  more  complicated  land  question.  The  soil  of 
Ireland  was  generally  owned  by  English  absentee  landlords 
and  cultivated  by  Irish  tenants  for  a  payment  of  rent.  The 
law,  having  been  made  by  the  conqueror,  was  very  unfair  to 
the  peasants,  who  lived  in  revolting  squalor,  at  the  mercy  of 
their  masters.  A  series  of  Land  Acts,  passed,  some  by 
the  Liberals  and  some  by  the  Conservatives,  and  inspired 
by  the  idea  of  affording  protection  against  landlord  cruelties, 
has  culminated  in  the  creation  of  a  state  fund  from  which 
the  peasant  may  borrow  money  on  easy  terms  for  the  pur- 
chase of  his  farm.  Doubtless,  the  moral  and  economic 
conditions  of  the  island  have  much  improved,  but  one  matter 
remains  where  it  was:  the  Irish  persistently  demand  Home  Home  Rule. 
Rule;  that  is,  they  desire  a  law  authorizing  them  to  govern 
themselves  in  all  matters  strictly  local.  Gladstone  finally 
incorporated  this  demand  in  his  Liberal  programme;  but 
although  on  one  occasion  (1892)  a  Home  Rule  Bill  passed  the 
Commons,  the  Lords  promptly  rejected  it,  and  Gladstone  let 
the  issue  drop.  Not  till  the  twentieth  century  did  the 
situation  take  a  turn  favorable  to  Irish  hopes. 

Let  us  turn  our  glance  from  these  domestic  affairs  to  the  Theexpan- 
wonderful  expansion  of  the  British  Empire  over  all  known  f^°  j°  "^' 
lands  and  seas.  The  colonial  leadership  won  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century  has  been  confirmed  by  a  thousand  bonds 
of  commerce  and  civilization.  The  vast  lands  over  which 
waves  the  British  flag  fall  into  two  main  groups.  Regions 
like  Canada,  Australia,  and  South  Africa,  which  have  been 
settled  largely  from  Britain,  are  granted  a  very  substantial 


488       Great  Britain  in  the  Nineteenth  Century 


Imperial 
Federation. 


The  Indian 
mutiny,  1857. 


Conquest  of 
the  two  Boer 
republics. 


self-government,  while  provinces  like  India  or  the  colonies 
of  Central  Africa,  where  natives  predominate,  are  made  di- 
rectly dependeijt  on  the  central  government,  which  secures 
its  hold  by  a  British  administration  and  a  British  army  of 
occupation.  These  latter,  in  distinction  from  the  self-gov- 
erning colonies,  are  called  crown  colonies.  During  the  last 
generation  much  enthusiasm  has  been  aroused  in  connection 
with  a  movement  which  purposes  to  bind  the  self-governing 
colonies  more  closely  to  the  mother  country  by  allowing 
them  to  send  representatives  to  a  central  British  Parliament. 
The  movement  is  known  as  Imperial  P^deration,  but  though 
toasted  on  all  patriotic  occasions,  has  thus  far  been  unable 
to  surmount  the  practical  difhculties  in  the  way. 

Naturally,  these  world-wide  colonial  interests  have 
brought  many  cares  and  not  infrequently  have  led  to  colonial 
wars.  The  most  important  take  us  to  India  and  South 
Africa.  In  1857  the  Sepoys,  who  are  the  native  soldiery  of 
India,  commanded  by  English  ofificers,  mutinied,  and  be- 
fore they  could  be  put  down  the  cruel  deeds  of  the  natives 
had  almost  been  outdone  by  the  victors.  Thereupon  Parlia- 
ment was  aroused  to  revise  the  whole  relations  of  the  home 
country  to  its  colony.  The  charter  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, a  private  association  of  merchants,  in  whose  hands  the 
administration  of  the  great  dependency  had  rested  since  its 
conquest,  was  revoked  (1858),  and  the  control,  including 
the  management  of  army,  navy,  justice,  and  administration, 
was  transferred  to  the  crown  and  its  officials. 

The  South  African  troubles  had  their  origin  in  the  exist- 
ence in  the  midst  of  British  territory  of  two  small  republics, 
the  Transvaal  and  Orange  Free  State,  inhabited  by  Dutch 
immigrants,  called  Boers.  The  Boers  naturally  enough  de- 
sired to  preserve  their  independence,  while  the  British  were 
anxious  to  bring  them  within  the  pale  of  their  influence. 
Quarrels  followed,  attended  by  rash  and  unjust  acts  on  both 


Great  Britain  in  the  Nineteenth  Century      489 


sides,  with  the  unhappy  issue  of  a  fierce  and  prolonged  war 
(1899-1902).  The  small  Boer  forces,  after  heroic  resistance 
under  skilful  leaders,  were  at  last  scattered  and  broken,  and 
the  two  states  annexed  by  the  British  crown. 

The  British  foreign  policy  in  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  British  foreign 
centuries  has  been  determined  by  the  circumstance  that  Eng-  ^°  "^^" 
land  is  the  greatest  commercial  and  colonial  power  in  the 
world.  Although  with  her  splendid  start  and  untiring  en- 
ergy she  has  left  every  other  European  state  far  behind,  she 
is  quick  to  take  alarm  at  the  rise  of  a  possible  rival.  Owing 
largely  to  the  struggles  of  the  past,  she  was  inclined,  during 
the  decades  immediately  following  the  fall  of  Napoleon,  to 
keep  a  sharp  lookout  toward  France;  but  on  discovering 
that  France  was  occupied  with  other  matters,  she  presently 
turned  her  attention  to  Russia.  The  great  Slav  power  was 
pushing  her  interests  chiefly  in  the  direction  of  Constanti- 
nople and  central  and  eastern  Asia.  This  action  England 
tried  to  check  with  varying  success,  going  so  far  on  one 
occasion  as  to  declare  war.  When  in  1853  the  Czar's  forces  War  with 
invaded  Turkey,  England  made  an  alliance  with  Napoleon  36!^'*' '  ^'*~ 
III.  and  hurried  troops  to  the  Black  Sea.  The  ensuing 
campaign  is  known  as  the  Crimean  War.  The  capture  of 
Sebastopol  inclined  Russia  to  ask  for  peace,  the  terms  of 
which  were  drawn  up  at  Paris  (1856).  Although  the  ad- 
vantages attained  by  France  and  Great  Britain  were  not  very 
striking,  the  main  end  of  the  war,  the  preservation  of  the 
Ottoman  empire,  was  unquestionably  secured.  Once  again, 
in  1878,  when  Russia,  in  another  war  with  Turkey,  was  about 
to  crush  the  Sultan,  Britain  interfered  and  saved  the  Mo- 
hammedan state  (Congress  of  Berlin,  1878). 

While  these  conflicts  illustrate  the  rivalry  between  Great   Great  Britain 
Britain  and  Russia  at  Constantinople,  their  competition  has  in  Asia, 
been  no  less  keen  in  Asia.     Diplomatic  incidents,  more  or 
less  grave,  have  been  frequent.     A  welcome  event  from  the 


490      Great  Britain  in  the  Nineteenth  Century 

British  point  of  view  was  the  recent  rise  of  Japan.  Eng- 
land immediately  supported  this  Oriental  power,  which, 
driven  to  desperation  by  persistent  Russian  encroachments, 
was  at  length,  in  1904,  emboldened  to  declare  war.  Japan's 
great  victories  on  land  and  sea  enabled  her  to  acquire  a 
paramount  position  in  Korea  and  in  the  Yellow  Sea.  These 
advantages  were  secured  by  the  treaty  of  peace  signed  at 
Portsmouth  (U.  S.)  in  August,  1905.  Even  before  the  war 
was  concluded  riots  had  taken  place  in  Russia,  which  pre- 
sently culminated  in  a  great  revolutionary  movement.  In 
consequence  the  Russian  Government  was  occupied  with 
domestic  affairs,  and  could  exercise  no  pressure  upon  Eng- 
lish interests  either  in  Asia  or  elsewhere.  Plainly  the  tur- 
moil in  Russia  redounded  to  the  decided  advantage  of 
Britain.  By  the  eUminating  process  of  time  one  after  an- 
other of  England's  potential  rivals  in  world  empire  have 
been  stricken  from  the  list,  until  in  the  year  in  which  this 
chapter  is  written  (1906)  there  remains  only  Germany. 
This  vigorous  and  youthful  empire  has  lately  girded  its 
loins  to  share  in  the  partition  of  the  world,  with  the  result 
that  English  public  opinion  has  transferred  its  wakeful 
jealously  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Berlin.  The  foreign  policy 
of  Great  Britain  is  for  the  moment  guided  chiefly  with 
reference  to  the  growth  and  expansion  of  Germany. 
The  sovereign  The  predominance  of  Parliament,  achieved  in  the  seven- 
reigns  but  does   teenth  centurv,  has  not  been  questioned  by  the  later  sover- 

not  govern.  "  '  '  ^  i        j  i  • 

cigns,  who  have  rested  content  with  their  honorary  headship 
of  the  nation  and  the  indefinable  political  influence  com- 
manded by  it.  The  long  reign  (1837-1901)  of  Queen 
Victoria,  a  conspicuous  lover  of  peace,  came  to  an  end 
amidst  universal  signs  of  sorrow.  She  was  succeeded  by 
Edward  VIL,  her  oldest  son  by  her  marriage  with  Prince 
Albert  of  Saxe-Coburg. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

RUSSIA   IN   THE   NINETEENTH   CENTURY;   THE   OTTOMAN 
EMPIRE   AND   THE   BALKAN   QUESTION 

References:  Fyffe,  Modern  Europe  (passim;  see  Index); 
Phillips,  Modern  Europe,  pp.  491-523;  Seignobos, 
Europe  Since  18 15,  Chapters  XIX.-XXI.;  Andrews, 
Modern  Europe,  Vol.  II.,  Chapter  XIII.;  Rambaud, 
History  of  Russia,  Vol.  III.;  Kennan,  Siberia  and 
the  Exile  System;  Milyoukov,  Russia  and  Its  Crisis 
(a  searching  analysis  of  present  Russian  conditions); 
Kovalevsky,  Russian  Political  Institutions. 


The  part  which  Russia  played  in  the  overthrow  of  Na-  CzarAle.xan- 
poleon  made  Czar  Alexander  I.  a  conspicuous  figure  in  Eu-  Poland. 
rope  after  18 15.  The  Congress  of  Vienna  confirmed  him  in 
the  possession  of  Poland,  which  he  ruled  as  king,  on  the 
basis  of  a  granted  constitution,  as  long  as  he  lived.  We  have 
seen  how  under  his  successor,  Nicholas  I.,  the  Poles  revolted 
(1830)  and  had  to  pay  for  their  audacity  with  the  loss  of 
their  constitution  and  their  independence. 

The  Poles,  however,  were  not  the  only  foreign  people  Russia,  a 
united  with  Russia  under  the  sceptre  of  the  Czar.  The  3tate!°^*^"^"^^ 
grand-duchy  of  Finland  was  inhabited  by  Finns  intersprin- 
kled  with  Swedes,  while  in  the  Baltic  provinces  were  settled 
Letts  and  Esths,  who  tilled  the  soil  for  an  upper  crust  of 
German  landlords.  Finland  and  the  Baltic  provinces,  Rus- 
sian only  in  name,  had  preserved  a  measure  of  provincial 
self-government.  That  was  not  the  case  with  the  various 
Slav  tribes — White  Russians  in  the  west,  Little  Russians  in 

491 


492 


Russia  in  the  Nitieteetith  Century 


The  emanci- 
pation of  the 
serfs. 


The  ex 
sion 


ezijan 
ofRus 


ussia. 


the  south — who  had  been  incorporated  with  Russia  by  con- 
quest and  were  held  under  autocratic  rule.  Russia,  even  if 
we  Hmit  our  statement  to  Russia  in  Europe,  was  therefore 
not  a  homogeneous  nation,  but  consisted  of  a  Russian  core, 
surrounded,  especially  along  its  western  border,  by  con- 
quered peoples  in  various  stages  of  dependence. 

The  people  of  the  great  Russian  state  were  so  backward 
in  civilization  that  their  domestic  history  in  the  nineteenth 
century  can  be  rapidly  told.  Having  no  share  in  the  gov- 
ernment, they  hung  upon  the  initiative  of  the  Czar,  who,  if 
progressive,  might  do  something  to  improve  conditions;  if 
reactionary,  thought  only  of  preserving  his  power.  Alex- 
ander I.  (1801-25),  after  disappointing  many  hopes,  was 
followed  by  his  brother,  Nicholas  I.  (1825-55),  of  whose 
despotic  disposition  we  have  had  a  glimpse  in  the  Polish 
revolution  of  1830.  He  stood  for  conservatism,  and  ruled 
his  country  with  a  rod  of  iron.  But  he  was  followed  by  a 
man  of  a  different  temper,  his  humane  son,  Alexander  II. 
(1855-81),  who  was  persuaded  that  reforms  were  inevita- 
ble. His  greatest  service  to  his  country  was  the  emancipa- 
tion of  the  peasants.  By  the  decree  of  1861  the  peasants, 
who  were  serfs  and  numbered  many  millions,  constituting 
between  eighty  and  ninety  per  cent  of  the  population, 
were  declared  free,  and  provision  was  made  by  which 
they  could  become  proprietors  of  small  farms.  As  the  va- 
rious local  bodies  were  also  given  the  right  to  govern  them- 
selves, the  people  were  for  the  first  time  raised  to  tlie  filll 
dignity  of  manhood,  and  Russian  society  was  gradually 
transformed  and  modernized.  Alexander  was  now  urged 
to  grant  a  constitution,  but  could  not  be  persuaded  to  make 
this  supreme  concession. 

Apart  from  the  emancipation  of  the  serfs,  and  certain 
administrative  and  judicial  reforms  by  which  Russia  was 
assimilated  to  European  methods,  the  history  of  the  state 


The  Ottoman  Empire  and  Balkan  Question     493 


under  the  nineteenth  century  czars  is  a  record  of  territo- 
rial expansion.  This  expansion  took  two  directions:  (i) 
Toward  the  Bosporus,  where  it  came  in  conflict  with  Tur- 
key; and  (2)  toward  Asia,  where  it  was  opposed  mainly 
by  England.  The  movement  of  Russia  toward  Turkey 
obliges  us  to  examine  the  Ottoman  empire. 

The  Turks,  after  establishing  their  rule  in  Asia  Minor  by  The  peoples 
gradual  stages,  had  in  the  fifteenth  century  conquered  the  ^nmsura.  ^° 
Balkan  peninsula  and  set  up  their  capital  at  Constantinople. 
The  territory  around  the  capital  had  been  settled  by  Turks, 
but  the  other  provinces  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  various 
peoples  who  had  occupied  them  in  the  Middle  Ages.  The 
most  important,  together  with  their  geographical  positions, 
were  the  following:  (i)  Greeks  in  the  Grecian  peninsula,  in 
the  islands  of  the  ^Egean  Sea,  and  along  the  Thracian  coast; 
(2)  Roumanians  north  of  the  lower  Danube;  (3)  Serbs  south 
of  the  Danube,  between  that  river  and  the  Adriatic  Sea; 
(4)  Bulgarians  on  either  side  of  the  Balkan  Mountains;  (5) 
Albanians  on  the  Adriatic  coast.  Of  these  tribes  all  were 
Slavs^  except  the  Greeks  and  the  Roumanians,  and  all  were 
Christians,  belonging  to  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church,  except 
the  Albanians,  who  to  a  large  extent  had  gone  over  to  the  re- 
ligion of  their  Mohammedan  conquerors.  The  government 
of  the  Turks  was  a  typical  Oriental  despotism.  The  Sultan  Thegovem- 
at  Constantinople,  kept  in  ludicrous  ignorance  of  the  affairs  Sultaa. 
of  his  realm,  was  content  if  his  subordinates  forwarded  the 
tribute  necessary  to  support  his  harem,  while  the  real  power 
lay  in  the  hands  of  the  pashas,  who  stood  at  the  head  of  the 
provinces  and  plundered  the  poor  inhabitants  at  discretion. 
The  Christians,  whom  centuries  of  oppression  had  reduced 


'  The  Roumanians,  although  they  speak  a  language  akin  to  Italian,  and 
hold  that  they  are,  as  their  name  suggests,  descended  from  Roman  colonists, 
are  probably  largely  a  Dacian  stock  which  has  been  Latinized.  The  Alba- 
nians, rough  mountaineers,  arc  the  remnant  of  the  original  inhabitants  of 
the  Balkan  peninsula,  the  old  Illyrians.  The  racial  situation  on  the  Balkans 
is  incredibly  confused. 


494  Russia  in  the  Nineteenth  Century 


The  first  step 
toward  Balkan 
freedom. 


New  crises. 


to  the  level  of  brutes,  were  deprived  of  every  human  right 
except  the  exercise  of  their  religion.  Turkey  in  Europe, 
closely  considered,  was  nothing  more  than  a  victorious  band 
of  warriors  encamped  among  enslaved  Christian  peoples,  who 
might  presently  arouse  themselves  and  cast  their  tyrants  off. 
And.  the  awakening  came.  It  came  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, seized  people  after  people,  and  created  what  is  called 
the  Balkan  or  the  eastern  question.  But  no  sooner  were  the 
bultan's  Christian  subjects  in  revolt  than  the  European  pow- 
ers felt  urged  to  declare  their  interest  in  the  fact.  They  in- 
terfered and  protected  the  small  nations  against  the  Sultan's 
wrath.  Revolt,  accompanied  by  European  intervention,  is 
the  history  of  Turkey  in  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  beginning  v.'as  made,  as  we  have  already  seen,  by 
Greece.  The  Greeks,  after  a  spirited  resistance,  were  about 
to  be  crushed  when  the  powers  interfered,  fought  the  battle 
of  Navarino  (1827),  and  secured  Greek  independence.  Out 
of  the  confusion  developed  a  war  between  Russia  and  Tur- 
key, in  which  Russia  was  victorious  (Peace  of  Adrianople, 
1829),  and  secured  a  paramount  position  at  Constantinople, 
This  war  closed  the  first  phase  in  the  crumbling  process 
of  the  Ottoman  empire.  Greece  was  now  an  independent 
kingdom,!  while  the  Sultan  withdrew  from  the  direct  govern- 
ment of  Servia  and  the  two  Roum.anian  provinces,  Wallachia 
and  Moldavia,  putting  their  administration  in  the  hands  of 
native  princes. 

The  next  great  event  in  Turkish  history  was  the  revolt  of 
the  cunning  and  powerful  pasha  of  Egypt,  Mehemet  AH, 
against  his  suzerain  at  Constantinople.  This  was  a  conflict 
among  Mohammedan  believers.  Mehemet  defeated  the 
Sultan  in  two  •'great  wars,  fought  between  1833  and  1840, 


1  The  first  king  of  Greece  was  Otto  of  Bavaria,  who,  after  ruling  auto- 
cratically for  a  period,  granted  {^.?>^■s)  a  constitution.  Twenty  years  later 
he  was  deposed  by  a  revolution,  and  was  succeeded  (1863)  b;y  a  prince  of 
the  House  of  Denmark.     This  prince,  King  George  I.,  ruled  till  1913- 


TJic  Ottoman  Empire  and  Balkan  Question     495 


and  might  have  driven  him  from  the  Bosporus  if  the  powers 
had  not  become  alarmed  and  forced  the  pasha  to  release  his 
prey.  The  incident  showed  the  helpless  decay  of  Turkey. 
Czar  Nicholas,  encouraged  by  this  situation  to  plan  for  the 
peaceful  partition  of  the  realm,  spoke  on  repeated  occasions 
of  "the  sick  man"  and  his  approaching  funeral;  but  when 
he  found  the  other  powers,  especially  England,  determined 
to  support  the  Sultan,  he  decided  on  a  policy  of  active  ag- 
gression. The  result  was  the  Crimean  War  (1853-55),  The  Crimean 
which  is  particularly  interesting  in  showing  the  radical  disa-  ^^^■ 
greement  of  the  European  powers  with  regard  to  Turkey. 
The  Russian  aim  of  conquering  and  partitioning  Turkey 
was  opposed  by  England,  which  feared  that  the  growth  of 
the  Russian  power  in  the  Mediterranean  would  threaten 
her  position  in  India.  England  managed  to  communicate 
her  alarm  to  France,  with  the  result  that  the  two  western 
powers  defended  Turkey,  defeated  the  Czar  (Sebastopol, 
1855),  and  in  the  Peace  of  Paris  (1856)  guaranteed  the 
integrity  of  the  Ottoman  empire.  But  all  the  tinkering  of 
Turkey's  friends  could  do  no  more  than  delay  disruption. 
There  were  troubles  in  Crete,  Syria,  in  short,  wherever 
Christians  came  in  contact  with  Mohammedans.  Every 
year  brought  some  new  loss  or  disgrace  to  the  Commander 
of  the  Faithful.  Thus,  when  in  1859  the  two  provinces,  Wal-  Creation  of 
lachia  and  Moldavia,  self-governing  since  1829,  united  un- 
der the  name  of  Roumania,  the  Sultan  had  to  give  a 
belated  consent;  and  when  in  1866  a  representative  assem- 
bly elected  Charles  of  HohenzoUern-Sigmaringen  (related 
to  the  reigning  House  of  Prussia)  hereditary  prince,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Mohammed  was  not  even  consulted.  Such  was 
the  precarious  situation  in  Turkey,  when  a  revolt  among 
the  Serbs  of  Herzegovina  led  to  another  violent  crisis.  The 
Herzegovinians  rose  in  1875  against  the  Turkish  tax-gather- 
ers, who  plundered  them  with  systematic  and  brutal  cruelty, 


496  Russia  in  the  Nineteenth  Century 


and  were  presently  aided  by  their  brethren  of  the  province  of 
Servia.     A  wave  of  excitement  swept  over  the  eastern  world. 

The  war  of         The  Russians,  themselves  Slav  and  Orthodox,  were  greatly 

^^'  agitated,  and  Alexander  II.,  in  spite  of  his  love  of  peace, 

was  moved  to  take  the  field  (1877).     Thus  was  initiated  the 

third  war  waged,  since  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  between 

Russia  and  Turkey. 

Victory  of  In  this  war  England  did  not  actively  support  Turkey, 

while  the  small  Slav  states  of  the  Balkan  peninsula,  as  far 
as  they  were  free  to  act,  gladly  joined  with  Russia.  The 
fate  of  the  campaign  hinged  upon  the  siege  of  Plevna. 
This  fortress  was  fiercely  and  skilfully  defended  by  Osman 
Pasha;  but  on  the  failure  of  provisions  he  and  his  army 
were  obliged  to  surrender  (December  10,  1877).  Nothing 
now  arrested  the  victorious  Russians.  They  crossed  the 
Balkans  and  would  have  floated  their  banners  from  the 
minarets  of  Constantinople  if  the  Sultan  had  not  sued  for 
peace.  In  March,  1878,  were  signed  the  articles  of  San 
Stefano  by  which  the  Turk  lost  all  his  European  posses- 
sions except  Albania  and  the  territory  around  Constanti- 
nople. England,  gravely  alarmed  over  this  increase  of  Rus- 
sian influence,  assumed  a  warlike  tone  and  refused  to  be 
placated  until  the  Czar  agreed  to  have  the  treaty  of  San 
Stefano  revised  in  a  general  meeting  of  the  European  powers. 

The  Congress         The  Congress  of  Berlin,  held  in  June,  1878,  marks  a  new 

isfs!^^'^'  epoch  in  the  history  of  Turkey.     Although  the  congress 

could  not  undo  the  defeat  of  the  Sultan,  it  could  and  did, 
under  the  leadership  of  England,  reduce  the  advantages  of 
Russia.  The  principle  upon  which  the  anti-Russian  faction 
acted  was  to  secure  the  independence  of  the  Christian  peo- 
ples of  the  Balkans  under  the  guarantee,  not  of  Russia,  but 
of  all  the  European  powers.  The  congress  finally  agreed 
upon  the  following  measures:  (i)  Roumania,  Servia,  and 
Montenegro    were   declared   free   and   sovereign.      Prince 


Hennanstadt  o 


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*^  flevaa    Shumla 


"\    „     „  f        ricTaa    saumla 
/\   ^Sofla/,-— -J. ^^U--"^"^ 


Adrianople^ 

'""slV" 


Longitude 


30  Greenwich 


BALKAN   PENINSULA 

after  the  Treaty  of  Berlin. 


SCALE  OF  UtLES. 

'0       as         60  100  IbO  500  260 


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The  Ottoman  Empire  and  Balkan  Question     497 


Charles  of  Roumania  presently  became  King  Charles  I., 
while  the  native  prince  of  Servia,  Milan  Obrenovitch,  be- 
came King  Milan  I.  Montenegro,  a  tiny  principality  of 
Serbs,  located  in  the  almost  inaccessible  mountains  which 
skirt  the  Adriatic,  had  really  never  been  subdued  by  the  Ot- 
toman empire,  and  was  now  formally  declared  independent 
under  its  native  prince  Nikita.  (2)  A  number  of  other  prov- 
inces were  practically  but  not  theoretically  detached  from 
the  Turkish  empire.     Austria  was  asked  to  occupy  Herze-  pt. 

govina  and  Bosnia,  but  as  no  limit  of  time  was  fixed,  the  oc- 
cupation soon  acquired  a  look  of  permanence.  Bulgaria  was 
divided  into  two  sections.  The  region  between  the  Danube 
and  the  Balkans  was  declared  a  self-governing  principality 
owing  allegiance  to  the  Sultan,  while  the  section  south  of  the 
Balkans,  officially  called  East  Roumelia,  was  left  under  the 
military  authority  of  the  Turks.  (3)  Russia  received  an  in- 
crease of  territory  in  Asia  Minor.  This  was  hardly  an  ade- 
quate reward  for  her  exertions  and  her  victory,  and  created 
an  indignation  in  Russia  against  the  settlement  of  Berlin 
which  has  survived  to  this  day. 

It  remains  to  inquire  into  the  success  of  the  Berlin  policy  The  growth 
and  the  development  of  the  new  Balkan  states.  With  due  Balkan  states, 
allowance  for  the  difficulties  of  the  situation,  the  statement 
may  be  ventured  that  the  young  governments  have  pros- 
pered. Among  the  regulations  which  proved  untenable  was 
the  division  of  Bulgaria.  In  1885  the  southern  section  — 
East  Roumelia — revolted  and  applied  for  union  with  the 
northern  province.  When  the  ruler  of  Bulgaria,  Prince 
Alexander  of  Battenberg,  who  had  been  lately  elected  to  the 
throne,  yielded  to  the  popular  pressure  and  accepted  the 
union  of  north  and  south,  Servia,  angry  at  the  increase  of 
her  neighbor,  declared  war.  The  incident  introduces  us  to 
a  new  and  important  feature  in  the  Balkan  situation.  The 
young  Christian  states  regard  one  another  with  the  most  in- 


49^  Russia  in  the  Nineteenth  Ce^itury 

tense  jealousy,  each  one  hoping,  in  the  event  of  the  further 
dissolution  of  the  Ottoman  empire,  to  secure  the  lion's  share. 
The  war  of  1885  supplies  the  comment  to  this  statement. 
Servia  was  roundly  beaten,  and  owed  her  preservation  to  the 
interference  of  Austria.  But  Prince  Alexander  did  not  long 
enjoy  his  triumphs.  He  had  given  umbrage  to  Czar  Alex- 
ander III.,  who  in  1886  compassed  his  downfall.  The  Bul- 
garians, indignant  over  this  interference  with  their  affairs, 
now  cut  loose  from  the  Czar's  apron-strings,  and  elected 
as  their  prince  Ferdinand  of  Coburg,  an  officer  in  the  Aus- 
trian army.  Ferdinand  has  achieved  a  remarkable  success, 
having  held  the  power  for  almost  twenty  years,  and  being 
in  a  fair  way  to  perpetuate  his  dynasty. 
Present  storm-  The  troubles  of  the  diminished  Turkish  empire  have  not 
Turkish  '  ceased,  owing  chiefly  to  the  fact  that  the  Christians  remain- 
empire,  jj^g  un(jej.  the  Mohammedan  yoke  continue  to  ask  for  relief. 
Tne  chief  centres  of  disturbance  of  late  have  been  (i)  Crete, 
(2)  Armenia,  and  (3)  Macedonia,  (i)  The  endless  revolu- 
tions in  Crete,  an  island  inhabited  by  Greeks,  kept  the  people 
of  the  kingdom  of  Greece  in  sympathetic  excitement,  and  led 
in  1897  ^^  ^  declaration  of  war  against  Turkey.  The  small 
power  proved  no  match  for  Turkey,  which  quickly  defeated 
it;  however,  Europe  interfered,  and  not  only  saved  Greece 
from  spoliation,  but  also  made  Crete  self-governing  under  a 
Greek  prince.  The  Cretans,  in  spite  of  their  virtual  inde- 
pendence, continue  to  demand  union  with  Greece,  and  the 
probability  is  great  that  their  wish  sooner  or  later  will  be 
realized.  (2)  The  Armenians,  Christians  of  Asia  Minor,  are 
desirous  of  achieving  their  independence,  but  the  agitation 
among  them  is  carefully  watched  by  the  Turks  and  from 
time  to  time  repressed  by  a  terrible  massacre.  The  out- 
rages committed  by  Turk  upon  Armenian,  and  vice  versa, 
have  aroused  the  indignation  of  Europe;  but  no  cure  has  thus 
far  been  found  for  the  evil.     (3)  The  same  may  be  said  for 


The  Ottoman  Empire  and  Balkan  Question     499 

the  troubles  in  Macedonia.  This  province — the  last  Chris- 
tian possession  of  the  Suhan  in  Europe — has  been  in  a  state 
of  increasing  ferment;  but  a  solution  is  rendered  difficult, 
owing  to  fierce  race  jealousy.  Macedonia  is  inhabited  by 
Bulgarians,  Serbs,  and  Greeks,  who  are  quite  as  ready  to 
butcher  cne  another  as  to  fight  the  common  enemy,  the 
Turk. 

These  various  events,  all  pointing  to  the  eventual  dissolu-  The  British 
tion  of  Turkey,  do  not  complete  the  tale  of  the  Sultan's  "'^'^"P^  ^^P 
misery.  In  1882  England  occupied  Egypt  with  an  army, 
and  although  the  pasha — ruling  under  the  title  of  khedive — 
has  not  been  deposed  and  the  nominal  suzerainty  of  the  Sul- 
tan is  still  acknowledged,  Egypt  may  be  counted  a  British 
province.  Nobody  will  venture  to  say  how  all  these  various 
issues  will  be  settled;  but  the  assertion  is  not  over-bold  that 
the  end  of  Turkey,  corrupt,  backward,  incapable  of  reform, 
has  been  decreed  by  the  fates. 

The  establishment  of  numerous  small  independent  states  The  Russian 
upon  the  ruins  of  Turkey  in  Europe  tended  to  put  a  check  ^gj.^ 
upon  the  Russian  march  to  Constantinople.  In  conse- 
quence, the  Czars  began  to  take  up  with  increased  vigor  their 
plan  of  conquest  ia  Asia.  In  the  course  of  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries  they  had  acquired  Siberia,  embrac- 
ing the  whole  north  of  that  great  continent;  and  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  they  have  striven  to  reach  a  warm  port,  with 
open  water  all  the  year  round,  upon  the  Pacific  and  Indian 
oceans.  Although  their  progress  has  been  steadily  opposed 
by  England,  which  was  seized  with  alarm  for  its  Indian  em- 
pire, the  Russian  advance  met  with  continued  success,  until 
it  was  challenged  by  Japan.  A  glance  at  the  map  will  show 
that  Russia  would  attempt  to  reach  the  ocean  in  the  region  of 
the  Persian  Gulf  and  the  Sea  of  China.  When  England  let 
it  be  understood  that  she  would  fight  before  she  would  per- 
mit her  rival  to  get  a  lodgment  in  the  waters  west  of  India, 


500  Russia  in  the  Nineteenth  Century 


The  war  with 
Japan. 


Domestic 
troubles  of 
Russia. 


The  Polish 
rebellion  of 
1863. 


The  educated 
movement  for 
a  constitution. 


the  energy  of  Russian  expansion  was  unloaded  upon  weak 
and  unresisting  China.  The  Czar  acquired  control  of  a 
considerable  slice  of  Chinese  territory  (Port  Arthur,  Man- 
churia), causing  such  consternation  in  the  neighboring  em- 
pire of  Japan  that  the  Mikado,  after  many  futile  remon- 
strances, declared  war.  The  conflict  (1904-5)  showed  the 
decisive  superiority  of  the  Japanese  upon  land  and  water. 
At  the  Peace  of  Portsmouth  (August,  1905)  Russia  was 
obliged  to  withdraw  from  her  advanced  positions,  and 
Port  Arthur,  southern  Manchuria,  and  Korea  fell  under 
the  influence  of  Japan.  The  forward  movement  of  Russia 
in  Asia  seems  to  be  blocked  for  many  a  day. 

However,  the  present  acute  paralysis  of  Russia  is  due  not 
so  much  to  her  defeat  by  Japan,  as  to  the  domestic  revo- 
lution which  broke  out  during  the  war.  To  understand  this 
important  movement  we  must  turn  back  once  more  to  the 
reign  of  the  kindly  Alexander  II.  Although  the  Czar  had 
liberated  the  serfs  in  1 861,  he  disappointed  many  of  his  peo- 
ple by  refusing  to  grant  a  constitution.  The  Poles  had  even 
persuaded  themselves  that  he  was  going  to  grant  them  not 
only  a  constitution,  but  their  independence;  and  on  awaken- 
ing from  their  illusion,  they  rose  in  rebeUion  (1863).  Of 
course  they  were  crushed,  as  in  183 1,  but  the  movement 
served  as  an  announcement  to  the  world  that  their  national 
sentiment  was  still  alive.  Once  again  the  Poles  were  ground 
under  the  iron  heel  of  the  Czar,  thair  very  language  being 
banished  from  the  schools,  the  court-room,  and  even  from 
public  sign-boards. 

In  Russia  proper  the  liberal  discontent  with  the  continued 
maintenance  of  the  autocratic  system  took  a  different  form. 
The  radicals,  more  and  more  enraged  at  the  Czar  and  his 
bureaucracy,  adopted  the  anarchistic  views  spread  by  cer- 
tain revolutionists  in  western  Europe,  and  under  the  name 
of  nihilists  sought  the  destruction  by  any  and  every  means 


The  Ottoman  Empire  and  Balkan  Question     501 


of  the  detested  government.  Attacks  upon  prominent  offi- 
cials with  pistol  and  bomb  became  frequent,  culminating  in 
188 1  in  the  assassination  of  the  once  popular  Alexander  11. 
He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Alexander  III.  (1881-94), 
who  stubbornly  maintained  his  absolute  power  and  met 
the  plots  of  his  opponents  by  wholesale  banishments  to  the 
lonely  and  noisome  prisons  of  ice-bound  Siberia.  By  the 
time  Nicholas  II.  succeeded  (1894)  his  father,  the  liberal 
propaganda  had  begun  to  assume  another  shape.  Al- 
though a  band  of  radicals  continued  to  terrorize  society 
with  bombs  and  assassination,  the  middle  classes  and  the 
workingmen  of  the  cities — the  latter  largely  organized  as 
socialists — came  to  believe  their  cause  would  triumph  by 
more  peaceful  means.  Their  chance  came  during  the  war  The  present 
with  Japan.  The  defeats  suffered  by  the  Russian  govern- 
ment encouraged  criticism,  which  the  authorities  tried  to 
appease  by  concessions.  Finally,  in  October,  1905,  the 
Czar  went  the  length  of  proclaiming  a  constitution,  em- 
bodying a  limited  number  of  popular  concessions.  But 
it  was  too  late.  The  accumulated  excitement  burst  in  riots 
and  rebellions,  the  end  of  which  no  one  can  foretell.  In 
May,  1906,  a  popular  Assembly,  called  Duma,  was  con- 
vened, but  the  Czar  dissolved  it  in  July  before  it  had 
effected  any  changes.  Nicholas  II.  stands,  in  1906,  at 
the  parting  of  the  ways,  apparently  undecided  whether  he 
shall  follow  the  liberal  path  or  that  of  the  traditional  ab- 
solutism. While  the  situation  is  frightfully  involved,  it 
does  not,  however,  seem  too  much  to  say  that  the  old 
autocracy  can  never  be  restored,  and  that  a  new  era  has 
dawned  in  Russia. 


CHAPTER  XXV 


The 

building  up 
of  modern 
Italy. 


Unsatisfactory 
economic  situ- 
ation, espe- 
cially in  the 
south. 


CENTRAL    EUROPE    SINCE   THE   UNIFICATION    OF   ITALY    AND 

GERMANY 

References:  Seignobos,  Europe  Since  1814,  Chapter 
VII.;  Chapter  XL,  pp.  361-72;  Chapters  XVL,  XVII.; 
Phillips,  Modern  Europe,  Chapter  XX.;  Andrews, 
Modern  Europe,  Vol.  II.,  Chapters  IX.-XIL;  Lowell, 
Governments  and  Parties  in  Continental  Europe; 
Stillman,  Union  of  Italy;  King  and  Okey,  Italy  To- 
day; Whitman,  Imperial  Germany;  Whitman,  Austria. 

Italy. 

Italy  had  no  sooner  achieved  her  unity  under  King  Vic- 
tor Emmanuel  than  she  became  seriously  occupied  with 
pressing  domestic  affairs.  Everything  in  the  disturbed  and 
backward  peninsula  had  to  be  done  from  the  beginning. 
Accordingly  the  new  government  created  a  centralized  ad- 
ministration, devised  a  judicial  and  an  educational  system, 
and  called  an  army  and  a  navy  into  being.  This  upbuild- 
ing of  the  state  in  accordance  with  modern  demands 
cost  unfortunately  a  great  deal  of  money  and  obliged  the 
government  to  impose  numerous  and  burdensome  taxes. 
Even  so,  the  expenditure  habitually  exceeded  the  revenues, 
creating  a  financial  problem  with  which  ministry  after  min- 
istry wrestled  in  vain  for  several  decades.  It  was  not  til) 
the  end  of  the  century  that  the  situation  was  relieved  and 
the  deficit  mastered. 

In  every  country  the  financial  problem  is  closely  associated 
with  the  general  economic  situation.  To  understand  the 
domestic  afi'airs  of  Italy  one  must  begin  with  the  fact  that 
the   country,   though   perhaps   the    most    beautiful    under 

502 


The   Unification  of  Italy  and  Germany       503 


the  sun,  is  poor.  It  has  few  mineral  resources,  above  all, 
no  coal  and  iron,  and  is  largely  dependent  on  agriculture. 
Furthermore,  although  the  farming  methods  of  the  north, 
where  there  is  an  intelligent  and  active  peasantry,  are  rap- 
idly improving,  the  south  lags  far  behind  and  is  disturbed 
by  an  almost  permanent  agricultural  crisis.  The  trouble  in 
the  southern  parts  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  land  is  owned 
by  great  proprietors,  while  the  work  is  done  by  hired  la- 
borers, ground  down  by  centuries  of  tyranny.  The  misery 
of  this  section,  increased  by  excessive  taxation,  has  led,  on 
the  one  hand,  to  emigration  on  an  immense  scale  to  North 
and  South  America,  and,  on  the  other,  to  bread  riots  and 
political  discontent.  The  result  has  been  the  growth  of  the 
republican  and  socialist  parties,  not  only  in  the  south,  it  is 
true,  but  also  among  the  workingmen  of  the  northern  cities; 
and  although  the  monarchy  still  enjoys  the  favor  of  the 
vast  majority,  it  finds  itself  obliged  to  make  constant  con- 
cessions to  the  strong  radical  parties  of  the  Parliament. 
The  main  task  before  the  government  at  the  opening  of 
the  twentieth  century  is  to  find  relief  for  the  growing 
wretchedness  and  discontent  of  the  millions  of  southern  till- 
ers of  the  soil  and  for  the  thousands  of  workingmen  in  the 
industrial  centres  of  the  north. 

A  grave  problem  has  always  been  the  relation  of  Church  Latent  war 
and  state.  The  Pope  has  declared  himself  irreconcilable,  church  and 
and  since  the  capture  of  Rome  in  1870  has  chosen  to  live  as 
a  prisoner  in  the  Vatican  palace.  The  law  of  the  Italian 
Parliament  (Laws  of  the  Guarantees,  1 870-1),  by  which  he 
was  assured  the  honors  and  immunities  of  a  sovereign,  the 
possession  of  the  Vatican  and  Lateran  palaces,  and  a  con- 
siderable income,  has  never  been  acknowledged  by  him, 
and  the  Italian  state  has  been  steadily  ignored  and  de- 
nounced. Naturally,  the  government  has  responded  to  this 
set  hostility  with  repressive  legislation.    The  rich  possessions 


state. 


504 


Central  Europe 


Italy  allies 
herself  with 
Germany. 


Colonial  vent- 
ures and 
dististers. 


of  the  Church  have  been  secularized  and  sold  and  the  clergy 
compensated  with  meagre  salaries,  paid  out  of  the  national 
treasury.  When  and  how  the  Pope  and  king  are  to  be  rec- 
onciled and  the  latent  war  between  them  brought  to  a  close, 
no  one  can  foretell. 

A  word  about  Italian  foreign  affairs.  Italy,  from  her  po- 
sition, is  interested,  above  all,  in  the  Mediterranean;  and 
when  in  1881  P' ranee  seized  Tunis,  she  became  alarmed 
and  resolved  to  insure  herself  against  further  French  prog- 
ress in  Africa  by  cultivating  the  friendship  of  Germany. 
Negotiations  with  Germany,  a  power  already  closely  bound 
to  Austria,  led  to  the  formation  in  1883  of  the  Triple  Alli- 
ance, The  Triple  Alliance  is  defensive  in  character,  and 
after  an  existence  of  over  twenty  years  may  be  declared  to 
have  been  true  to  its  avowed  purpose  of  maintaining  the 
peace.  Encouraged  by  the  support  of  the  central  powers, 
Italy  presently  entered  upon  a  colonial  policy  in  Africa,  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  Red  Sea,  with  the  usual  consequence 
of  becoming  engaged  in  distant  wars,  coupled  with  several 
serious  disasters  (defeat  at  Adowa  by  the  Abyssinians,  1896). 
In  spite  of  the  enumerated  difficulties — the  colonial  failures, 
the  excessive  taxation,  the  agricultural  misery  of  the  south, 
the  growth  of  socialism  in  the  cities — every  Italian  may 
take  a  legitimate  pride  in  the  evident  signs  of  a  growing 
unity,  order,  and  prosperity. 


France. 


The  republic  is 
established. 


We  have  seen  how  the  disastrous  war  of  France  with  Ger- 
many (1870-71)  gave  birth  to  a  new  republican  government 
(the  Third  Republic),  upon  which  fell  not  only  the  burden 
of  making  peace  with  the  victorious  foe,  but  also  of  putting 
down  the  savage  rising  of  the  Parisian  communists.  The 
elections  of  February,  1S71,  held  under  the  depressing  in- 


Since  the   Unification  of  Italy  and  Germany     505 


fluence  of  defeat,  had  returned  an  Assembly  with  a  strong 
monarchical  majority.  As  soon  as  peace  had  been  made 
with  the  new  German  Empire  and  the  communists  had  been 
overthrown,  the  Assembly  took  up  the  problem  of  organizing 
a  new  government.  If  the  monarchical  majority  could  have 
immediately  united  upon  a  candidate  for  the  throne,  they 
might  have  restored  the  monarchy  without  delay;  but  the 
party  of  the  legitimists  wished  to  call  back  the  older  branch 
of  the  House  of  Bourbon,  the  party  of  the  Orleanists  planned 
to  restore  the  grandson  of  Louis  Philippe,  and  the  party  of 
the  imperialists  supported  the  son  of  Napoleon  III.  Not 
till  1873  did  the  legitimists  and  Orleanists  agree  by  recog- 
nizing the  heir  of  Charles  X.,  who,  born  in  1823,  was  now 
fifty  years  old,  and  was  known  as  the  count  of  Chambord. 
But  the  count  of  Chambord,  stubbornly  refusing  to  recog- 
nize the  tricolor  flag  (red,  blue,  white)  as  the  emblem  of 
France,  insisted  upon  the  white  banner  of  the  Bourbons,  and 
upon  this  rock  the  whole  restoration  foundered.  New  elec- 
tions held  to  fill  vacancies  increased  the  number  of  the 
republicans,  who  presently  began  ^  put  the  conservative 
forces  to  rout.  They  managed  to  have  a  number  of  con- 
stitutional laws  passed  (1873-75)  by  which  the  republic  was 
definitely  established  and  the  power  vested  in  (i)  a  Chamber 
of  deputies,  elected  by  universal  suffrage;  (2)  a  Senate, 
elected  by  special  bodies  in  the  departments;  and  (3)  a 
president,  elected  for  seven  years  by  Senate  and  Chamber 
in  a  common  session.  When  the  Assembly  at  last  dissolved 
itself  and  new  elections  were  held  (1876),  the  republicans 
were  returned  in  crushing  majority.  The  next  year  the 
Senate  became  republican,  too,  and  now  nothing  but  the 
presidency  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  monarchists.  The 
first  president  had  been  Thiers  (1871-73),  a  very  moderate 
man,  who,  for  the  very  reason  of  his  moderation,  had  in  1873 
been  obliged  to  give  way  to  Marshall  MacMahon,a  thorough- 


5o6 


Central  Europe 


Democratic 
measures. 


Troubles  with 
the  Church. 


going  monarchist.  MacMahon  presented  a  bold  front  to 
the  rising  tide  of  republicanism  till  1879,  when,  con- 
vinced that  his  cause  was  hopeless,  he  made  way  for  a 
radical,  Grevy.  Thus,  after  the  struggle  of  a  decade,  the 
republicans  had  acquired  and  have  since  retained  the  three 
organs  of  political  power. 

The  republican  regime  has  succeeded  in  thoroughly  de- 
mocratizing France.  The  government  has  established  an 
army  on  the  basis  of  universal  military  service,  as  in  Ger- 
many; it  has  begun  to  decentralize  the  power  by  making  the 
municipal  authorities  elective;  and  it  has  created  a  system 
of  public  education  on  the  broad  foundation  of  a  gratuitous 
and  compulsory  primary  instruction.  Of  course,  with  so 
many  explosive  forces  stored  up  as  in  France,  the  path  of 
the  republic  has  not  been  strewn  with  roses.  The  army, 
officered  by  men  of  the  upper  classes,  has  sometimes  shown 
signs  of  disobedience,  and  on  several  occasions,  notably 
under  instigation  from  General  Boulanger  (1887-89),  has 
threatened  to  take  matters  into  its  own  hands.  Still  greater 
danger  than  from  the  army  has  threatened  from  the  clergy. 

The  general  democratic  drift  was  by  no  means  to  the  lik- 
ing of  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy,  traditionally  linked  to  the 
cause  of  monarchy.  Under  the  prudent  guidance  of  Pope 
Leo  XIII.  the  French  clergy  "rallied"  for  a  time  around  the 
republic,  but  a  renewed  and  definite  breach  took  place  when 
the  government  developed  its  educational  policy.  Educa- 
tion had  hitherto  been  a  prerogative  of  the  Church,  which 
by  means  of  its  schools  had  moulded  the  youth  of  the  nation. 
Therefore,  when  the  attempt  was  made  to  organize  a  pub- 
lic-school system  of  lay  teachers  under  the  direct  control  of 
the  state,  the  clergy  showed  signs  of  growing  resentment. 
In  the  end  a  clash  ensued  between  Church  and  state,  which 
has  finally  led  to  a  complete  falling  out  of  the  former  part- 
ners.    In  1901  the  government  began  to  close  the  schools 


Since  the   Unification  of  Italy  and  Germany     507 

maintained  by  the  religious  orders,  and  proceeding  step  by 
step,  ended  (1905)  by  cancelling  the  agreement  of  1801  (the 
Concordat)  with  Rome.  Church  and  state  in  France  are 
now  entirely  separated,  as  in  the  United  States,  and  the 
state  will  presently  cease  paying  the  salaries  of  priests  and 
bishops.  Further,  by  the  Separation  Act  the  state  has  ap- 
propriated the  churches  and  cathedrals,  but  declares  itself 
ready  to  deliver  them  over  to  religious  congregations, 
formed  according  to  the  terms  of  the  law.  In  August,  1906, 
the  Pope  refused  in  a  letter  to  the  French  bishops  to  sanc- 
tion these  congregations,  thus  openly  declaring  that  a  state 
of  war  exists  between  Rome  and  the  government.  There 
the  matter  rests:  The  state  has  affirmed  its  sovereign  and 
democratic  character,  but  in  appropriating  public  education 
and  in  disestablishing  the  Church  it  has  offended  the  Pope 
to  the  point  where  he  seems  inclined  to  resist  to  the  utmost. 

Meanwhile,  the  foreign  policy  of  the  republic  has  been  The  alliance 
largely  governed  by  antagonism  to  Germany.  During  the  ^'  ^^^'^" 
early  years  of  the  Third  Republic,  France  remained  isolated, 
and  by  the  creation  of  the  Triple  Alliance  in  1883  seemed  to 
be  put  into  a  distinctly  inferior  position.  But  relief  was  at 
hand.  Russia,  angered  by  the  settlement  of  Berlin  (1878), 
was  drifting  away  from  her  traditional  friendship  with  Ger- 
many, and  presently  made  friendly  overtures  to  France. 
Early  in  the  nineties  the  growing  intimacy  took  the  form 
of  an  alliance,  which  has  tended  to  restore  French  confi- 
dence and  prestige. 

But  even  before  the  Russian  friendship  was  assured,  France  Colonial 
had  taken  up  with  success  a  policy  of  colonial  expansion.  ^''P'^"^"^'^- 
She  has  acquired  Madagascar,  Annam  in  Farther  India,  Ton- 
kin in  southern  China — not,  of  course,  without  expense  and 
bloodshed — and  she  has  unfurled  her  flag  over  a  consider- 
able section  of  Africa.  Africa,  being  nearer  home,  is  the  chief 
object  of  her  attention,  and  the  African  policy  of  the  repub- 


5o8 


Central  Europe 


The  greatness 
and  weakness 
of  France. 


lie  has  taken  the  form  of  amassing  as  large  an  empire  as 
possible  around  Algiers,  the  splendid  province  acquired  in 
1830.  We  have  seen  how  the  seizure  of  Tunis  (188 1)  raised 
a  question  between  France  and  Italy;  but  far  from  being 
content  with  Tunis,  the  government  has  pushed  its  claims 
over  the  Sahara  and  the  northwest  until  only  the  Mohamme- 
dan empire  of  Morocco  remains  independent.  .  This  for- 
ward movement  in  Africa,  persisted  in  throughout  the  cen- 
tury, was  watched  with  alarm  not  only  by  Italy,  but  also  by 
England,  which,  after  its  occupation  of  Egypt  in  1882,  looked 
upon  the  Nile  valley  as  its  particular  domain.  Constant 
diplomatic  friction  seems  at  last  to  have  been  allayed  by 
an  agreement  of  April,  1904,  which,  generally  speaking,  as- 
signs the  whole  northwest,  including  Morocco,  to  France 
as  her  sphere  of  influence,  and  in  return  concedes  the  Nile 
region  to  Great  Britain. 

Since  the  German  war  France  has  established  the  republic 
upon  solid  foundations;  she  has  created  a  democratic  army 
and  a  democratic  school-system,  free  from  clerical  influence; 
and  she  has  enlarged  her  colonial  dominion;  nevertheless, 
she  does  not  play  as  important  a  role  as  before  1870. 
The  reason  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  falling  off'  of  her 
moral  integrity  or  industrial  efficiency,  but  solely  in  the 
fact  that  her  population  has  become  practically  stationary. 


Bismarck  in 
control. 


Germany. 

The  proclamation  of  William,  king  of  Prussia,  as  em- 
peror, coupled  with  the  completion  of  the  German  Empire, 
gave  Bismarck,  the  creator  of  German  unity,  a  position  of 
unassailable  authority.  To  his  post  of  prime  minister  of 
Prussia  he  added  that  of  chancellor  or  head,  under  the  em- 
peror, of  the  federal  government.  For  the  next  twenty  years 
he  towered  like  a  giant  over  German  political  life.     The  fed- 


Since  the   Unijication  of  Italy  and  Germany     509 


eral  constitution,  a  compromise  of  Prussian  autocracy  and 
German  liberalism,  left  the  sovereign  in  control  of  the  army, 
the  administration,  and  the  ministry;  the  Reichstag  voted  the 
budget  and  made  the  laws.  While  the  chancellor  was  there- 
fore secure  against  overthrow  by  an  adverse  Parliamentary 
vote,  he  was  reduced  to  finding  a  majority  for  a  desired 
measure  by  bargaining  with  the  various  parties.  He  began 
by  an  alliance  with  the  liberals,  whose  programme,  in  the 
main,  he  adopted.  With  their  aid  he  was  engaged  in  en- 
dowing the  new  federation  with  such  necessary  modern 
institutions  as  a  system  of  coinage  (its  unit  the  mark  =  24 
cents),  the  French  metric  system  of  weights  and  measures, 
and  a  xmiform  system  of  judicature,  when  he  fell  into  a 
quarrel,  known  as  the  CuUnrkampj  (war  for  civilization), 
with  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

We  have  seen  that  Italy  and  France — and  it  is  true  of  The  quarrel 
almost  every  other  European  country — quarrelled  with  the  church  and 
Catholic  Church  during  the  second  half  of  the  nineteenth  ^^^^^'  1871-79- 
century.  The  main  issue  has  usually  been  the  control  of 
education.  In  Germany  figured  some  additional  features, 
especially  the  claim  of  the  Church  to  be  exempt  from  all 
interference  on  the  part  of  the  state.  The  Catholics,  who 
form  a  minority  in  Germany,  stood  solidly  together  in  and 
outside  the  Reichstag,  and  although  the  state  passed  several 
severe  laws  curtailing  the  authority  of  the  clergy,  Bismarck 
was  at  last  obliged  to  sound  a  retreat.  The  Catholic  polit- 
ical party,  called  the  Centre,  not  only  succeeded  in  getting 
most  of  the  legislation  against  the  Church  repealed,  but  also 
in  acquiring  a  leading  position  in  German  public  life.  On 
the  great  question  of  education  a  compromise  was  reached 
by  which  the  state  retained  charge  of  the  schools,  but  made 
religion  an  obligatory  subject,  handing  over  the  Catholic  in- 
struction to  the  Catholic  clergy  and  the  Protestant  instruc- 
tion to  the  Protestant  ministers. 


5IO 


Central  Europe 


Industry  and 
social-de- 
mocracy. 


Economically,  the  most  significant  fact  in  modern  Germany 
is  the  progress  of  commerce  and  industry.  German  manu- 
factures, stimulated  by  the  exploitation  of  the  iron  and  coal 
deposits  along  the  Rhine  and  in  Silesia,  have  entered  into 
competition  with  those  of  England  and  the  United  States, 
and  German  commerce  now  encircles  the  globe.  A  social 
consequence  has  been  the  marvellous  growth  of  the  cities, 
w^hose  swarming  masses  have  naturally  banded  together  for 
the  purpose  of  improving  their  position  by  political  action. 
Organized  by  clever  leaders — Lasalle,  Liebknecht,  Bebel — as 
the  social-democratic  party,  the  workingmen  have  stead- 
ily pressed  toward  the  double  ideal  of  a  pure  democracy  and 
the  control  by  the  community  of  the  means  of  production. 
The  growth  of  the  social-democracy  has  been  uninterrupted, 
until  in  the  Reichstag  elections  of  1903  it  cast  twice  as  many 
votes  as  any  other  party.  This  rise  of  a  revolutionary  fac- 
tion, prepared  to  overthrow  not  only  the  monarchy  but  also 
the  capitalistic  middle  class,  greatly  alarmed  the  govern- 
ment, and  in  the  early  eighties  led  Bismarck  to  turn  his 
attention  to  the  labor  question.  With  characteristic  inge- 
nuity he  adopted  a  programme  of  state  socialism,  devised 
to  win  the  attachment  of  the  workingmen.  He  had  laws 
passed  by  which  the  state  undertook  to  insure  the  laboring 
classes  against  accident,  sickness,  and  old  age;  but  al- 
though this  insurance  system  has  been  in  successful  opera- 
tion for  two  decades,  it  has  not  shaken  the  loyalty  of  its 
beneficiaries  toward  the  party  of  revolution.  Upon  the 
social-democracy  hinges  the  future  of  Germany.  The 
monarchy,  supported  by  the  aristocracy,  the  clergy,  and  the 
middle  classes,  and  the  workingmen,  with  their  programme 
of  a  republic  with  equal  benefits  for  all,  must  find  some 
common  ground  if  Germany  is  to  be  saved  from  disruption. 

In  foreign  affairs  Germany  has  played  an  important  part 
since  her  defeat  of  France.     Bismarck,  past-master  in  the 


Since  the   Unification  of  Italy  and  Germany     5  t  i 


art  of  diplomacy,  did  not  fail  to  see  that  he  must  secure  his 
country  first  of  all  against  its  late  enemy.     He  succeeded  in 
forming  the  league  of  the  three  emperors  of  Russia,  Austria, 
and  Germany,  which  lasted  until  the  Balkan  war  of  1877. 
Such  a  league  of  course  made  Germany  unassailable,  but 
it  came  to  an  end  when,  after  the  Congress  of  Berlin  (1878), 
Russia  showed  an  inclination  to  ascribe  the  hostile  enact- 
ments of  that  gathering  to  Germany  and  Austria.     There- 
upon Bismarck  formed  a  close  alliance  with  the  cabinet  of  The  policy  of 
Vienna  (1879).     The  admission  of  Italy  into  this  compact  Triple 
created  the  famous  Triple  Alliance  (1883),  which  has  been  AUiance. 
several  times  renewed  on  the  basis  of  a  common  obligation 
to  further  the  maintenance  of  the  European  peace.    The 
Triple  Alliance  of  the  central  powers  and  the  Dual  Alliance 
of  their  eastern  and  western  neighbors  make  Europe  on  the 
surface  look  like  a  camp  ready  to  bristle  with  arms  at  a 
moment's  notice,  but,  deeply  considered,  these  arrangements, 
by  establishing  a  nearly  even  balance  of  power,  greatly  re- 
duce the  chances  of  war.     Great  Britain,  hovering  upon  the 
outskirt  of  these  great  peace  leagues,  at  first  favored  the 
Triple  Alliance,  but,  increasingly  alarmed  over  the  rapid 
growth  of  Germany,  has  since  the  beginning  of  the  twen- 
tieth century  shown  a  strong  inclination  to  rally  to  the  side 
of  France. 

Old  Emperor  William  died  in  1888  at  the  ripe  age  of  nine-  William  II. 
ty-one.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Frederick,  already 
stricken  with  a  mortal  disease,  and  after  a  few  weeks  by  his 
grandson,  William  II.  William  II.,  an  active,  talented,  and 
religious  sovereign  with  strong  autocratic  leanings,  was  re- 
solved not  only  to  rule  but  also  to  govern.  He  soon  dis- 
missed Bismarck  (1890),  because  he  was  not  inclined  to  be 
overtopped  by  a  mere  subject,  and  then  by  a  policy  of 
speeches  at  banquets  and  similar  occasions  entered  actively 
into  all  the  questions  of  the  day.     He  has  started  many  re- 


512  Central  Europe 


forms,  some  good,  others  indifferent;  he  has  shown  an  un- 
flagging interest  in  commerce,  manufactures,  science,  and 
the  fine  arts;  he  is  the  real  creator  of  the  German  navy;  but 
by  putting  himself  persistently  forward  he  has  made  himself 
also  the  main  object  of  attack  within  and  without  his  do- 
minion. Although  he  has  dug  deeper  the  chasm  between 
the  monarchy  and  the  socialists,  he  has  held  the  affection  of 
the  middle  classes,  and  seems  to  occupy  a  very  strong  and 
unassailable  position. 

A  ustria-Hungary. 

Federalism  On  the  heels  of  the  failure  of  the  revolution  of  1848  the 

centralization,  government  of  the  young  emperor,  Francis  Joseph,  returned 
to  the  Metternichian  system,  which  locked  Austria  in  the 
prison  of  absolutism  for  the  next  ten  years.  But  the  un- 
fortunate Italian  campaign  of  1859  brought  an  awakening. 
The  emperor  himself  saw  the  necessity  of  change  and  pub- 
lished a  solemn  promise  to  admit  the  people  to  a  share  in 
public  affairs.  In  what  form  was  this  to  be  done?  Two 
courses  seemed  to  be  open:  (i)  To  declare  the  various  prov- 
inces of  the  Hapsburg  dominion  self-governing,  each  with 
its  own  Parliament  but  subject  to  the  common  sovereign — 
this  the  federal  system;  and  (2)  to  weld  the  provinces  as 
closely  together  as  possible  and  make  them  subject  to  a  na- 
tional Parliament  and  administration  at  Vienna — this  the 
system  of  centralization.  The  former  plan  was  favored  by 
the  Slav  tribes— -Czechs,  Poles,  Slovenes,  Croats,  Serbs — 
who  felt  that  it  contained  a  guarantee  of  their  national  exist- 
ence; the  latter  by  the  Germaus,  who  wished  to  retain  their 
historical  predominance.  The  Hungarians  would  accept 
neither  of  the  two  systems,  and  after  a  period  of  hesitation 
and  conflict  (1860-67)  decided  the  issue  according  to  their 
special  demands. 


Since  the   Unification  of  Italy  and  Germany     5 1 3 

The  Hungarians  declared  that  as  an  independent  nation  The  dual  em- 
they  were  interested  neither  in  Slav  federalism  nor  in  German  Hungary 
centralization,  but  wanted  singly  and  solely  a  recognition  of  "'^a.ted,  1867. 
their  ancient  constitution,  suppressed  after  their  defeat  in 
1849.  So  firmly  did  they  comport  themselves  that  Francis 
Joseph  at  last  gave  way.  Having  in  1867  declared  the  Hun- 
garian constitution  again  in  vigor,  he  was  crowned  at  Buda- 
pest as  king  of  Hungary.  At  the  same  time  the  kingdom  of 
Hungary  entered  into  an  agreement  with  the  rest  of  the  Haps- 
burg  monarchy  to  regard  a  certain  number  of  affairs,  such 
as  diplomacy,  the  army  and  navy,  the  national  debt,  the 
coinage,  the  customs  tariff,  as  common  to  both  contracting 
parties.  Thus  was  called  into  being  the  dual  system  indi- 
cated in  the  official  designation  of  Austria-Hungary,  and  con- 
stituting an  unclassifiable  novelty  among  political  creations. 
It  is  plainly  more  than  a  personal  union,  and  yet,  on  the  other 
hand,  less  than  a  close  federation,  as  the  agreement  on  most 
matters  (coinage,  customs)  has  to  be  renewed  from  decade 
to  decade,  and  the  agreement  on  no  matter,  not  even  on  the 
army  and  navy,  is  perpetual.  Judging  this  scheme  of  dual- 
ism by  its  record,  a  student  can  give  it  at  best  but  a  qualified 
approval.  The  two  halves  of  the  monarchy  have  quarrelled 
constantly,  some  of  the  agreements  have  been  permitted  to 
lapse,  and  the  refusal  of  the  emperor  to  grant  certain  new 
demands  of  the  Hungarians,  touching  the  abolition  of  the 
German  language  in  the  Hungarian  half  of  the  common 
army,  led  in  the  year  1905  to  a  condition  in  Hungary  which 
can  only  be  described  as  latent  revolution.  It  is  not  credi- 
ble that  the  dual  system  of  1867  can  be  maintained  much 
longer  without  great  changes. 

The  idea  behind  the  arrangement  of  1867  was  the  su-   Hungarian 
premacy  of  the  Hungarians  and  the  Germans,  in  the  east   Hungary, 
and  west  respectively,  at  the  expense  of  the  Slavs.     In  Hun- 
gary, taken  together  with  its  dependent  provinces  of  Croatia 


514 


Central  Europe 


Germaa 
failure  in 
Austria. 


Austria-Hun- 
gary interested 
chiefly  in  the 
Balkans. 


and  Transylvania,  the  Hungarians  did  not  constitute  one- 
half  of  the  population,  but  such  was  their  patriotic  vigor 
and  political  intelligence  that  they  have,  though  frequently 
with  questionable  means,  secured  their  ascendancy.    Austria, 
which  was  defined  as  including  all  the  Hapsburg  dominions 
not  assigned  to  Hungary — that  is,  Bohemia,  Moravia,  Silesia, 
Lower  Austria,  Tyrol,  etc. — has  led  a  very  stormy  life  since 
the  dual  settlement.     The  Germans,  though  traditionally 
in  control,  constituted  only  a  strong  minority,  and  partly 
from  lack  of  homogeneity,  partly  from  lack  of  support  on 
the  part  of  the  emperor  and  his  government,  have  been 
obliged  to  relax  their  hold.     The  trouble  has  lain  in  the  in- 
ability of  Francis  Joseph  to  make  up  his  mind  definitely 
about  the  old  issue  of  federalism  versus  centralization.     Af- 
ter supporting  for  a  time  the  centralized  system,  which  nat- 
urallv  favored  the  Germans,  as  it  confirmed  their  rule  over 
non-German  provinces,  Francis  Joseph  turned  in  1879  to 
the  federalists,  who  in  varying  combination  have  been  at  the 
helm  ever  since,  and  who,  although  they  have  not  yet  dis- 
solved the  Austrian  state,  have  steadily  pursued  their  fed- 
eralist objects,  thereby  putting  the  Germans  on  the  defen- 
sive.    The  struggle  of  the  various  nationalities  ^  in  Austria 
and  Hungary,  but  especially  in  Austria,  is  intense  and  un- 
interrupted, and  would  have  long  ago  led  to  a  complete  dis- 
solution of  the  Hapsburg  dominion,  if  it  were  not  for  the 
pressure  of  two  circumstances.     All  the  nationalities  unite 
in  loyalty  to  the  Hapsburg  dynasty;  and  however  much  they 
quarrel,  they  balk   at   separation  for  fear  that  something 
worse  may  befall  them. 

The  tale  of  the  Austro-Hungarian  foreign  policy  is  soon 
told.     Since  Austria's  exclusion  from  Germany  (1866)  her 

*  The  census  of  1890  gives  the  following  figures  for  the  leading  nation- 
alities: Germans,  10,600,000;  Hungarians,  7,500,000;  Czechs,  7,400,000; 
Ruthenians,  3,500,000;  Poles,  3,700,000;  Serbs  and  Croatians,  3,300,000-. 
Roumanians,  2,800,000;  Italians,  700,000. 


Since  the  Unification  of  Italy  and  Germany     515 

chief  interest  has  lain  in  the  Balkans,  where  she  naturally 
came  into  rivalry  with  Russia.  At  the  Congress  of  Berlin 
(1878)  she  received,  like  almost  everybody  else,  a  piece  of 
the  Sultan's  cloak  in  the  shape  of  the  provinces  of  Bosnia 
and  Herzegovina.  Austria-Hungary  was  asked  to  admin- 
ister these  territories  provisionally  under  the  sovereignty  of 
the  Sultan,  but  nobody  doubts  that  the  occupation  is  perma- 
nent. As  the  rivalry  with  Russia  had  by  reason  of  this  step 
grown  acute,  Francis  Joseph  concluded  (1879)  the  treaty 
with  Germany  which  in  1883,  by  the  accession  of  Italy,  grew 
into  the  Triple  Alliance,  still  operative  at  this  day  (1906). 

The  future  of  Austria-Hungary  is  one  of  the  grave  prob-  The  future  of 
lems  of  Europe.  The  falling  apart  of  the  monarchy  would  Hungary. 
raise  a  tremendous  dust-cloud  and  cause  an  almost  certain 
scramble  for  the  scattered  remains  among  the  neighbors. 
That  anything  will  occur  to  strengthen  the  wabbling  struct- 
ure is  not  likely.  On  the  other  hand,  the  loyalty  to  the 
reigning  House,  and  especially  to  the  person  of  the  old  em- 
peror, Francis  Joseph  (1848 — still  reigning  1906),  as  well  as 
the  conservatism  inherent  in  the  blood  of  men,  may  keep  the 
warring  nationalities  from  the  last  step  and  indefinitely  se- 
cure to  the  monarchy  its  present  precarious  existence. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

THE   MINOR  STATES   OF  EUROPE 

The  minor  states  of  Europe  have  of  course  shared  in  the 
gi'eat  movements  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  show  a 
development  along  the  same  lines  as  the  great  powers. 
Their  history  manifests,  in  the  realm  of  politics,  the  progress 
of  democracy;  in  economics,  the  increase  of  wealth  and 
population  through  the  application  of  science  to  industry 
and  commerce;  and  in  the  relation  of  classes,  an  improved 
organization  of  the  workingmen  coupled  with  a  leaning 
toward  socialist  views.  These  movements  are  modified  in 
each  country  by  its  special  situation. 

A.  Spain. 

References:  Fyffe,  Modern  Europe,  Chapters  XIV., 
XVII.;  Seignobos,  Europe  Since  1814,  Chapter  X., 
pp.  286-319;  Phillips,  Modern  Europe,  pp.  127-30, 
462;  M.  A.  S.  Hume,  Modern  Spain  (1788-1898). 

The  return  of  The  political  history  of  Spain  in  the  nineteenth  century 
the  Bourbons,  j^  ^  dreary  story  of  misgovernment  and  revolution.  We 
have  seen  that  when  Ferdinand  VII.,  the  Bourbon  monarch, 
came  back  after  the  fall  of  Napoleon,  he  straightway 
repudiated  the  liberal  party,  which  had  been  fostered  on  the 
ideas  of  the  French  Revolution  and  had  during  the  War  of 
Independence  drawn  up  a  constitution  (181 2).  Then  he  re^ 
established  the  absolute  regime  of  his  ancestors  even  to 
the  point  of  calling  the  hated  Inquisition  from  the  tomb. 

516 


The  Minor  States  of  Europe  517 

His  contemptible  conduct  caused  the  revolution  of  1820, 
which  after  a  short  liberal  triumph  led  to  the  French  inter- 
vention of  1823  and  to  the  restoration  of  the  tyranny  of 
Ferdinand.  We  have  also  seen  how  the  support  of  the 
Holy  Alliance,  so  effective  on  the  Continent  of  Europe, 
proved  of  no  avail  toward  the  conquest  of  the  Spanish- 
American  colonies,  and  how  these,  in  spite  of  Ferdinand's 
protest,  entered  upon  a  career  of  independence. 

But  misgovernment  at  home  and  the  loss  of  South  America  Civil  war 
does  not  complete  the  tale  of  the  misery  wrought  by  the 
wretched  king.  Even  in  his  death  he  became  a  curse  to  his 
country  by  creating  a  succession  issue.  He  left  his  crown, 
when  he  died  in  1833,  to  his  infant  daughter  Isabella,  under 
the  regency  of  her  mother  Christina,  thereby  setting  aside 
his  brother  Carlos,  who  considered  himself  the  legal  heir. 
The  result  was  a  civil  war  of  Christinists  against  Carlists, 
which  lasted  until  Carlos,  after  seven  years  of  fighting,  was 
driven  from  the  country  (1840).  By  that  time  civil  war  had 
become  a  national  habit  and  now  broke  out  among  the 
victors.  The  dreary  struggle  is  apparently  without  rhyme 
or  reason,  but,  closely  scanned,  will  reveal  at  its  core  the 
momentous  question:  shall  Spain  retain  her  feudal  and 
absolute  shackles  or  shall  she  cast  them  off  and  enter  upon 
the  path  of  modern  constitutionalism?  Christina,  the  regent, 
and  Queen  Isabella  after  her,  published  and  annulled  con- 
stitutions, made  and  broke  promises,  compounded  with  this 
and  that  group  of  politicians,  until  the  feeble  and  dishonest 
game  was  at  an  end  and  Queen  Isabella  had  to  flee  abroad 
before  a  popular  rising  (1868).  A  period  followed  of  vain 
experimentation;  in  reality  the  country  passed  into  the 
hands  of  successive  dictators.  During  the  ascendancy  of 
the  Generals  Serrano  and  Prim  the  crown  was  offered  (1870) 
to  Leopold  of  Hohenzollern,  producing  that  Spanish  incident 
which  brought  about  the  Franco-German  War.     In  1873, 


5i8 


The  Minor  States  of  Europe 


Restoration  of 
the  Bourbons 
under  Alfonso 
XII.  (1875). 


The  constitu- 
tion 


Economic  and 
social  condi- 
tions. 


The  Spanish 
•"^'onies. 


under  the  high-minded  and  capable  Castelar,  even  the 
republican  form  of  government  received  a  trial. 

At  length  the  country  made  up  its  mind  that  for  better  or 
worse  its  destiny  was  coupled  with  that  of  the  inherited 
Bourbon  dynasty  and  called  back  Isabella's  son,  the  young 
Alfonso  (1875).  In  1876  a  constitution  was  published 
which  vested  the  legislative  power  together  with  ministerial 
control  in  a  corlcs  of  two  houses — a  senate,  partly  elected  and 
partly  appointed  by  the  king,  and  a  congress,  elected  by  the 
people.  Since  1890  manhood  suffrage  has  been  introduced. 
Old  wounds  open  from  time  to  time,  but  apparently  Spain 
has  entered  upon  an  era  of  definite  constitutional  progress. 
When  Alfonso  XII.  died  in  1885,  the  grief  was  general  and 
the  nation  rallied  enthusiastically  around  his  posthumous 
son,  Alfonso  XIII.,  for  whom  his  mother  assumed  the 
regency  till  he  was  declared  of  age  in  1902. 

The  economic  and  social  conditions  continue  to  present 
a  serious  problem.  The  country  possesses  great  natural 
resources  (good  soil  and  climate  in  the  south,  mineral  wealth 
in  the  north),  but  the  population,  superstitious,  backward 
in  civilization,  and  prone  to  idleness,  does  not  make  the  most 
of  them.  The  poverty  is  great,  beggary  a  national  calamity. 
But  a  slow  improvement  is  noticeable,  which  will  be  ac- 
celerated when  the  public  schools  are  made  effective  and 
illiteracy,  which  is  general,  has  been  stamped  out.  Until 
lately  a  great  drain  upon  the  national  finances  was  the 
remnant  of  the  once  vast  colonial  empire,  Cuba  and  the 
Philippines.  Perennial  misgovernment  had  made  these 
dependencies  prone  to  revolt,  and  neither  military  recon- 
quest  nor  belated  attempts  at  reform  secured  the  attachment 
of  the  alienated  natives.  In  1894  Cuba  rose  again,  and 
when  a  Spanish  force  of  2oo\ooo  men  had  almost  reduced 
the  island  to  a  desert,  the  United  States  interfered,  provok- 
ing the  Spanish-American  War  of  1898.    The  lusty  republic 


The  Minor  States  of  Europe  519 

was  quickly  successful,  and  in  the  Peace  of  Paris  Spain 
declared  Cuba  independent  and  ceded  Porto  Rico  and  the 
Philippines  to  the  victor.  The  assertion  may  be  ventured 
that  the  war  freed  Spain  from  an  embarrassment,  for  a 
weak  power,  just  recovering  from  a  mortal  lethargy,  cannot 
hope  to  communicate  the  spark  of  life  to  distant  colonies. 
Spain  can  now  retrench  her  expenditures  and  stop  the 
growth  of  her  national  debt  with  its  crushing  interest 
charges.  She  can  concentrate  her  attention  upon  her  do- 
mestic problems,  and  may  be  expected  to  make  rapid  prog- 
ress in  popular  education,  scientific  culture,  and  industrial 
methods. 

B.  Portugal. 

References:  Fyffe,  Modern  Europe,  Chapters  XIV., 
XVII.;  Seignobos,  Europe  Since  1814,  Chapter  X., 
pp.  319-26;  Phillips,  Modern  Europe,  pp.  90-91, 
130-33;  Stephens,  H.  Morse,  Portugal. 

Portugal,  the  sister  nation  to  the  west  of  Spain,  has  in  King  John 
the  nineteenth  century  passed  through  the  familiar  crisis  ^^^{^ 
caused  by  the  conflict  of  reactionary  and  progressive  prin- 
ciples. When  Napoleon  invaded  Portugal  in  1807,  King 
John  and  the  royal  family  of  Braganza  embarked  for  their 
great  dependency,  Brazil,  where  the  sovereign  chose  to  re- 
main even  after  Napoleon's  rule  had  been  overthrown.  In 
1820  the  Portuguese,  disaffected  by  this  unexpected  prefer- 
ence, rose  in  revolt  and  demanded  a  constitution.  In  order 
to  save  his  crown,  John  VI.  came  back  and  with  a  meas- 
ure of  common  sense  unusual  in  a  legitimate  king  submitted 
to  a  limitation  of  his  absolutism. 

On  John's  leaving  Brazil,  however,  the  Brazilians,  of-   Portugal  and 
fended  in  their  turn,  declared  themselves  independent  of   company. 
Portugal  and  offered  the  crown  to  John's  son,  Pedro.     Pe- 
dro wisely  accepted,  adopting  the  title  Emperor  Pedro  I., 


520  The  Minor  States  of  Europe 

but  on  his  father's  death,  in  1826,  had  to  renounce  the  older 
crown  of  Portugal  in  favor  of  his  infant  daughter  Maria. 
CivU  war.  Thus  Portugal  and  Brazil  went  each  its  own  way.      The 

succession  in  Portugal  of  Maria  was  presently  disputed  by 
Pedro's  uncle  Miguel,  with  the  result  that  Portugal,  like 
Spain,  was  plunged  into  civil  war.  At  length  the  supporters 
of  Maria,  who  stood  for  constitutionalism,  were  victorious 
over  Miguel  and  his  reactionary  henchmen,  and  Portugal 
about  the  middle  of  the  century  was  pacified  and  definitely 
The  constitu-  enrolled  among  the  limited  monarchies  of  Europe.  The 
"°'^'  constitution  provides  for  a  cortes  of  two  houses — the  peers, 

who  are  in  part  appointed  by  the  king,  in  part  elected,  and 
a  lower  chamber,  elected  by  the  people.  The  franchise 
has  been  gradually  extended  (the  most  recent  bill  is  of  190 1) 
until  it  is  practically  exercised  by  all  adult  males. 
The  colonies  of  Brazil,  which  with  the  accession  of  Emperor  Pedro  I.  be- 
ortuga .  came  an  independent  state,  need  not  be  examined  here,  ex- 

cept to  point  out  the  fortune  of  the  House  of  Braganza. 
Pedro  I.  was  followed  by  his  son,  Pedro  II.,  a  prince  of  a 
modern  type,  who,  when  he  discovered,  after  a  beneficent 
reign,  that  the  people  preferred  a  republic,  resigned  his 
throne  without  a  struggle  (1890).  Even  after  the  loss  of 
Brazil,  Portugal  retained  considerable  territory  in  Africa 
(see  map,  facing  p.  540),  but  national  poverty  coupled  with 
bad  management  makes  the  possession  a  burden  on  the 
treasury.  The  Azores  and  Madeira,  nearer  home,  are  a 
more  lucrative  investment,  but  are  not  properly  colonies,  as 
they  are  peopled  with  Portuguese  and  are  fully  incorporated 
with  the  kingdom. 
Difficulties  Economically  and  intellectually  Portugal  reproduces  the 

and  problems,  problems  and  sorrows  of  Spain.  The  country  has  resources, 
but  the  poor  and  indolent  population  cannot  exploit  them. 
Illiteracy  is  rampant;  fully  one-half  the  people  cannot  read 
and  write.     The  finances,  going  from  bad  to  worse,  led  in 


The  Minor  States  of  Europe  521 

1893  to  a  partial  suspension  of  interest  payment  on  the 
national  debt.  That  meant  bankruptcy.  Doubtless  it  would 
be  a  blessing  if  Portugal  could  be  persuaded  to  pocket  her 
pride,  disband  her  army,  and  sell  her  African  colonies  to 
the  highest  bidder.  Perhaps,  too,  it  would  be  the  part  of 
wisdom  if  the  two  sister  nations,  Spain  and  Portugal,  could 
be  persuaded  to  form  a  federation,  but  the  patriotism  of  the 
Portuguese  puts  any  such  plan  out  of  the  question  for  a 
long  time  to  come.  However,  when  all  is  said,  civilization 
has  moved  forward  and  not  backward  in  this  state,  in 
whose  skies  still  lingers  faintly  the  glory  of  the  age  when 
Diaz  rounded  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  Vasco  da  Gama 
returned  with  the  spices  of  India. 

C.  Switzerland. 

References:  Seignobos,  Europe  Since  1814,  Chapter  IX., 
pp.  257-86;  Phillips.  Modern  Europe,  pp.  10,  262- 
65;  McCracken,  Rise  of  the  Swiss  Republic,  Book 
V.  (nineteenth  century). 

We  have  seen  (p.  86)  how  the  Swiss  Confederation  Difficulties  of 
began  in  the  revolt  of  the  three  Forest  cantons,  Schwyz,  federatkm.  °^' 
Uri,  and  Unterwalden,  against  the  counts  of  Hapsburg;  how 
other  cantons  joined  the  league  until  the  number  reached 
thirteen;  and  how  the  sovereignty  of  the  republic,  after 
having  been  virtually  exercised  for  two  and  a  half  centuries, 
was  acknowledged  by  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  in  the 
Peace  of  Westphalia  (1648).  Though  independence  was 
gained,  the  new  state  was  afflicted  with  many  troubles: 
I.  The  union  established  no  effective  federal  control 
and  practically  left  the  individual  cantons  sovereign.  2. 
While  some  cantons  were  governed  democratically,  others 
were  swayed  entirely  by  a  narrow  oligarchy.  3.  Certain 
regions  were  classified  as  subject  or  allied  territories  and 


522 


The  Mittor  States  of  Europe 


Jhanges 
wrought  by 
the  French 
Revolution. 


The  federal 
victory. 


did  not  enjoy  equality  with  the  thirteen  cantons.  4.  The 
Reformation  had  carried  into  the  country  a  fierce  re- 
ligious strife,  which  the  settlement  of  Kappel  (153 1)  al- 
leviated  but  did  not  end. 

Nevertheless,  imperfect  as  the  Swiss  union  was,  it  endured 
till  the  French  Revolution,  when  it  went  to  pieces  under  the 
assault  of  the  new  ideas  aided  by  a  French  army  of  in- 
vasion. In  1803  Napoleon  interposed  as  mediator  among 
the  warring  cantons  and  imposed  a  constitution  along  lib- 
eral lines  with  real  federal  control,  but  this,  like  all  the  rest 
of  his  creations,  was  swept  away  by  the  iron  besom  of  the 
allies  and  left  the  question  of  Switzerland  to  be  decided  by 
the  Congress  of  Vienna.  The  statesmen  of  the  Congress 
with  their  unreasoning  conservatism  favored  the  loose  union 
of  prerevolutionary  days.  This  was  therefore  reestablished, 
not  without  certain  modifications  but  with  an  avowed  re- 
turn to  the  traditional  state  sovereignty.  In  other  respects 
the  Congress  was  not  ungenerous.  Switzerland  was  put 
under  the  guarantee  of  the  powers,  and  new  cantons  were 
added,  bringing  the  number,  as  at  present,  up  to  twenty- 
two. 

The  Federal  Pact  of  18 15  had  hardly  been  adopted  when 
the  old  troubles  flared  up  again,  federalists  arraying  them- 
selves against  advocates  of  state  rights,  Protestants  againflt 
Catholics.  The  crisis  came  toward  the  middle  of  the  cen- 
tury. To  defend  themselves  against  the  encroachments  of 
the  radicals  and  reformers,  seven  Catholic  cantons  formed  a 
conservative  league  called  Sonderbund.  This  act,  tanta- 
mount to  secession,  was  challenged  by  the  Federal  Diet, 
and  in  a  short  war  the  Sonderbund  was  defeated  and  scat- 
tered (1847).  Thereupon  the  radical  victors  crowned  lhe:*t 
work  by  giving  Switzerland  a  new  constitution,  which  wa~ 
both  federal  and  democratic,  and  which  with  slight  altera- 
tions is  in  operation  to-day. 


The  Minor  States  of  Europe  523 

By  the  constitution  of  1848  the  supremacy  of  the  federal  Theconstitu- 
over  the  cantonal  powers  was  raised  beyond  a  doubt,  but 
the  governments  of  the  cantons  were  not  deprived  of  their 
local  rights.  Switzerland  in  its  dovetailing  of  federal  and 
local  powers  offers  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  political 
system  of  tlie  United  States.  The  national  legislation  was 
vested  in  a  Federal  Assembly  of  two  houses:  the  Council  of 
States,  much  liiie  the  United  States  Senate,  consists  of  two 
delegates  from  each  canton,  while  the  National  Council, 
comparable  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  is  elected  by 
the  people  on  the  basis  of  universal  manhood  suffrage.  The 
national  executive  is  not  a  single  person,  but  a  committee 
of  seven,  called  the  Federal  Council  and  elected  by  the 
Federal  Assembly.  Although  one  of  the  seven  presides  un- 
der the  title  of  President  of  the  Council,  his  authority  is 
hardly  greater  than  that  of  his  colleagues.  A  very  inter- 
esting feature  developed  by  the  Swiss  democracy  is  the  di- 
rect share  in  law-making  secured  to  the  people  by  means 
of  two  devices,  the  referendum  and  the  popular  initiative. 
By  the  referendum,  laws  passed  by  the  legislature  are  referred  Referendum 
for  a  final  verdict  to  a  popular  vote.  We  may  notice,  by  the  fnitiadve.  ^ 
way,  that  this  is  a  growing  practice  in  the  state  and  city 
governments  of  the  United  States.  The  popular  initiative 
concedes  the  right  to  a  certain  number  of  voters  to  frame  a 
bill  which  must  be  submitted  to  the  people  for  adoption  or 
rejection.  These  measures,  in  successful  operation  for 
some  time  in  both  the  state  and  national  governments,  make 
Switzerland  the  most  advanced  democracy  of  our  age. 

Political  discussion  and  responsibility  have  had  the  effect   Prosperity 
of  so  stirring  the  energies  of  the  people  that  Switzerland  ha^Jony 
enjoys  a  remarkable  prosperity.     An  excellent  public-school 
system  has  stamped  out  illiteracy.     Switzerland,  too,  al- 
though it  enfolds  several  nationalities,  is  not  vexed  by  any 
race  problem.     Of   the  twenty-two   cantons,  thirteen  are 


524 


The  Minor  States  of  Europe 


German,  four  are  French,  three  are  mixed  German  and 
French,  and  one  is  Italian.  In  the  canton  of  Graub linden 
German  disputes  possession  with  Romansch,  a  dying  tongue 
derived  from  Latin.  The  preponderant  element  is  Ger- 
man (over  two-thirds  of  the  whole  population),  but  Ger- 
man, French,  and  Italian  are  all  official  languages. 


The  United 
Netherlands 
from  1815  to 
1830. 


The  constitu- 
tion. 


D.  Holland. 

References:  Seignobos,  Europe  Since  18 14,  Chapter 
VIII.,  pp.  229-44;  Phillips,  Modern  Europe,  pp.  8, 
187,  192. 

The  Congress  of  Vienna,  moved  by  the  desire  to  create 
a  strong  barrier  against  France,  tried  the  experiment  of 
uniting  the  ancient  Netherlands  under  a  Dutch  king  of  the 
House  of  Orange.  We  have  seen  (Chapter  XVIII)  that 
the  project  failed,  not  only  because  of  differences  in  race, 
language,  and  religion,  but  also  quite  as  much  because  the 
southern  provinces  were  treated  unfairly  in  such  matters  as 
of&ce-holding  and  parliamentary  representation.  Against 
such  discrimination  the  southern  provinces  protested  in 
their  revolt  of  1830  and  organized  themselves  as  a  separate 
state  under  the  name  of  Belgium.  The  Dutch  king,  William 
I.,  offered  what  resistance  he  could,  but  had  at  last  to  give 
way. 

We  should  note  that  William's  diminished  kingdom,  col- 
loquially called  Holland,  bears  officially  the  name  of  the 
Netherlands.  The  constitution  granted  by  the  sovereign 
in  18 14  was  replaced  in  1848  by  a  more  liberal  one  still  in 
vigor.  The  king  has  at  his  side  a  law-making  body,  called 
the  States-General,  composed  of  two  houses.  The  upper 
house  represents,  the  provinces  and  is  chosen  by  the  pro- 
vincial legislatures,  while  the  lower  house  is  elected  by  the 
people,  practically  (since  1896)  on  the  basis  of  manhood 


The  Minor  States  of  Europe  525 

suffrage.     The  kingdom  is  a  federal  state  and  the  compo- 
nent provinces  retain  a  large  measure  of  self-government. 

The  solid  qualities  of  the  Dutch  have  brought  peace  and  The  outlook, 
prosperity  to  the  state.  The  large  colonial  possessions  in 
Asiatic  waters,  a  remnant  of  the  more  considerable  territories 
acquired  in  the  heroic  days  of  the  republic,  present  many 
difficulties,  but  are  still  managed  at  a  profit.  Is  the  state 
ever  likely  to  be  incorporated  with  Germany,  with  which  it 
is  closely  allied  in  speech  and  blood?  The  patriotism  and 
traditions  of  the  Dutch  are  emphatically  enlisted  against 
such  a  fusion,  and  the  mere  suggestion  arouses  resentment. 
The  question,  occasionally  discussed  by  people  of  a  specu- 
lative turn,  is  not  likely  to  become  a  burning  one  for  a  long 
time.  The  present  sovereign  is  Queen  Wilhelmina,  who 
succeeded  in  1890  at  the  age  of  ten,  and  is  the  last  scion  of 
the  famous  Orange  stock. 

R.  Belgium. 

References:  Seignobos,  Europe  Since  18 14,  Chapter 
VIII.,  pp.  244-57;  Phillips,  Modern  Europe,  pp. 
188-99,  454,  467. 

Following  their  successful  revolt  of  1830  the  Belgian  peo-  The  constitu 
pie  organized  themselves  under  a  hberal  monarchical  con-  *'°"" 
stitution  and  called  to  the  throne  Leopold  of  the  German 
House  of  Saxe-Coburg.  His  family  still  reigns  in  Belgium, 
Leopold  I.  (1831-65)  after  a  prosperous  rule  being  succeeded 
by  his  son,  Leopold  II.  (1865 — still  reigning,  1906).  The 
constitution  of  183 1,  with  a  few  amendments,  is  still  in  effect. 
It  created  a  Parliament  of  two  houses,  an  upper  house, 
largely  chosen  by  local  bodies,  and  a  lower  house,  elected 
by  the  people.  Originally  the  electors  were  a  small  body 
by  reason  of  a  high  property  qualification,  but  since  1893 
manhood    suffrage   prevails   with    the   curious    feature   of 


526  The  Minor  States  of  Europe 

plural  votes  for  men  possessed  of  a  more  than  average 
measure  of  wealth  and  education. 
Jlericalsand  This  recent  grant  of  a  liberal  franchise  was  due  to  the 

socialists.  .     ° 

remarkable  industrial  prosperity  of  Belgium  in  the  nine- 
teenth century.  The  little  state  has  taken  a  place  among 
the  great  manufacturing  countries  of  the  world,  and  has 
developed  a  dense  population  of  over  6,000,000  people, 
largely  laborers  crowded  together  in  grimy  cities.  This 
proletariat  by  threatening  demonstrations  forced  the  gov- 
ernment to  extend  the  suffrage  as  just  noted.  The  first 
enlarged  election  (1894)  astonished  the  agitators,  inasmuch 
as  the  country  returned  a  large  clerical  majority.  The 
clerical  party,  intensely  Catholic,  immediately  carried  its 
favorite  measure  and  put  the  schools  under  the  control  of 
the  Church.  Meanwhile  the  socialists  have  been  growing 
rapidly,  making  it  plain  that  the  battle  for  the  possession 
of  power  will  be  waged  henceforth  between  the  two  extreme 
parties.  In  the  new  alignment  of  issues  the  old-fashioned 
liberals,  in  Belgium  as  everywhere  else,  have  been  crushed 
between  the  upper  and  the  nether  millstone. 
The  Congo  In  the  scramble  for  Africa  Leopold  secured  the  recog- 

Free  State 

nition  by  the  European  nations  of  his  sovereignty  of  the 
Congo  Free  State  (1884).  The  sovereignty  is  personal,  but 
Leopold  was  obliged  to  administer  his  vast  realm  by  Belgian 
subjects  and  to  develop  it  with  Belgian  capital,  and  has 
promised  in  return  for  this  support  to  leave  it  to  the  state 
on  his  demise.  The  Congo  Free  State  is  therefore  already 
essentially  a  Belgian  colony.  A  cruel  exploitation  of  the 
natives  on  the  part  of  the  companies  formed  to  trade  in 
ivory  and  rubber  has  lately  come  to  light,  and  furnishes  an 
extreme  example  of  the  evils  attending  the  rule  of  savages 
by  so-called  superior  races,  but  the  indignation  of  the  civ- 
ilized world  directed  at  the  Belgian  companies  also  shows 
where  the  corrective  of  these  abuses  lies. 


The  Minor  States  of  Europe  527 


F.  Denmark. 

References:  Seignobos,  Europe  Since  18 14,  Chapter 
XVIII.,  pp.  554-56,566-78;  Phillips,  Modern  Europe, 
pp.  3i4-i5>  326,  394,  409-12,  418-19- 

The  poHtical  power  of  the  feudal  orders  lasted  very  long   Denmark 

,  .1  ■  f  T^     J     •   1    TTT       and  the 

in  Denmark,  and  not  till  1660,  in  the  reign  of  Predenck  ill.,  duchies  of 
was  it  replaced  by  the  absolute  monarchy.  This  system  g^^^j^fj^  ^""^ 
continued  well  into  the  nineteenth  century,  but  in  1848  the 
liberal  agitation  was  successful  and  induced  the  king  to 
grant  a  modern  constitution.  At  the  same  time  the  interest 
of  the  nation  became  absorbed  in  the  question  of  the  duchies 
of  Schleswig  and  Holstein,  which,  inhabited  for  the  most 
part  by  Germans  and  bound  to  Denmark  only  by  a  per- 
sonal union,  were  aiming  at  independence.  We  have  fol- 
lowed the  struggle  (pp.  447-48,  45^,  470-71)  to  the  inter- 
ference in  1864  of  Austria  and  Prussia,  who  compelled  the 
surrender  of  the  two  provinces  to  themselves.  Later,  in 
1866,  Bismarck  obliged  Austria  to  forego  her  claim. 

Since  the  defeat  of  1864  Denmark  has  devoted  herself  to  Domestic 
domestic  affairs.  A  promising  beginning  was  made  in  1866 
by  a  new  constitution,  which  created  a  parliament  of  two 
houses.  The  upper  house  is  largely  appointed  by  the  king, 
while  the  lower  house  is  elected  by  manhood  suffrage.  In- 
creasing prosperity  tends  to  strengthen  the  democracy,  but 
the  king  remains  an  important  factor  in  the  government. 
Christian  IX.,  who  succeeded  to  the  throne  in  1863,  reigned 
until  his  death  in  1906.  Owing  to  the  brilliant  marriages 
of  two  of  his  daughters  to  the  heirs  respectively  of  the 
thrones  of  Great  Britain  and  Russia,  he  was  known  humor- 
ously as  the  father-in-law  of  Europe.  From  1877  to  189 1 
he  maintained  a  contest  with  the  lower  house  over  the  ques- 
tion as  to  who  controlled  the  ministry,  himself  or  the  repre- 
sentatives, and  to  all  appearances  he  came  out  victorious. 


528 


The  Minor  States  of  Europe 


The  arctic  island  Iceland  is  a  Danish  dependency,  but, 
already  possessed  of  extensive  rights  of  self-government, 
inclines  to  insist  more  and  more  on  complete  home  rule. 

G.  Sweden  and  Norway. 

References:  Seignobos,  Europe  Since  1814,  Chapter 
XVIII.,  554-66;  R.  N.  Bain,  Scandinavia,  Chapter 
XVII. 


The  union  of 
Sweden  and 
Norway. 


Quarrels  and 
separation. 


In  return  for  aid  granted  to  the  aUies  in  18 13  against 
Napoleon,  Marshal  Bernadotte,  crown  prince  of  Sweden, 
stipulated  that  Norway  be  added  to  his  territories.  Nor- 
way had  been  for  four  hundred  years  a  dependency  of  Den- 
mark, and  the  Norwegian  people  hoped  that  in  the  general 
reconstruction  of  Europe  the  Danish  regime  would  be  re- 
placed by  independence.  The  prospect  of  a  new  subjec- 
tion, this  time  to  Sweden,  alarmed  them,  and,  rising  (18 14) 
in  rebellion,  they  refused  to  be  satisfied  until  the  king  of 
Sweden  promised  to  rule  Norway,  not  as  a  Swedish  prov- 
ince, but  as  an  independent  kingdom  with  its  own  separate 
constitution.  Thus  was  created  the  kingdom  of  Sweden 
and  Norway,  a  union  of  two  equal  states  having  little  in 
common  beyond  the  same  sovereign. 

Even  so  the  Norwegians  were  not  content.  They  strug- 
gled  incessantly  to  insure  themselves  the  fullest  possible 
control  of  their  own  affairs,  and  from  1872  the  relations 
of  the  two  Scandinavian  neighbors  became  critical.  First 
the  Norwegian  parliament,  called  Storthing,  demanded  that 
it,  and  not  the  king,  should  control  the  ministry,  and  no 
sooner  was  this  battle  won,  when  it  demanded  a  separate 
Norwegian  consular  service.  As  this  would  have  created 
two  separate  departments  of  foreign  affairs,  the  king  re- 
sisted, and  a  long  struggle  ensued,  which  the  Storthing  at 


The  Minor  States  of  Europe  529 


last  ended  in  1905  by  declaring  the  king  of  Sweden  deposed 
and  Norway  independent.  For  a  moment  war  between 
Sweden  and  Norway  seemed  imminent,  but  Oscar  II.  gave 
another  proof  of  the  sagacity  which  has  won  him  golden 
opinions,  by  bowing  to  the  inevitable.  In  the  fall  of  1905 
the  Storthing  with  the  approval  of  the  people  offered  the 
crown  to  the  Danish  prince  Charles,  who,  in  accepting  the 
election,  declared  that  he  would  reign  under  the  name, 
famous  in  Norwegian  story,  of  Haakon.  Norway  and 
Sweden  are  now  in  all  respects  independent  of  each  othe*-, 
and  with  every  cause  of  conflict  removed  may  start  afresh 
upon  an  era  of  unclouded  relations. 
A  circumstance  which  doubtless  contributed  to  the  fric-  Aristocratic 

,  ,        .,,  1  •  1  o       J         •  Sweden  and 

tiop.  between  the  ill-sorted  pair  was  that  bweden  is  an  democratic 
aristocratic,  Norway  a  democratic  country.  This  appears  '^"^ay. 
from  an  examination  of  their  constitutions.  Not  until  the 
middle  of  the  century  did  Sweden  give  up  its  mediaeval  diet, 
composed  of  four  estates,  for  a  modern  parliament  of  two 
houses  (1866).  The  upper  house  is  chosen  by  local  councils 
and  only  wealthy  men  are  eligible,  while  the  lower  house  is 
elected  by  the  people.  The  franchise  for  the  lower  house 
is  based  on  an  income  qualification  high  enough  to  exclude 
one-third  of  the  adult  males  from  voting.  These  arrange- 
ments are  due  to  the  traditional  influence  exercised  in 
Sweden  by  the  clergy  and  nobility.  In.  Norway,  although 
the  clergy  is  powerful,  the  nobility  counts  for  nothing,  for 
the  Storthing  abolished  the  use  of  nobiliary  titles  half  a 
century  ago.  Since  1884  every  man  has  a  vote,  with  the 
result  that  the  Storthing  is  as  democratic  as  the  society  which 
it  represents. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

CHARACTER   OF   EUROPEAN   CIVILIZATION  AT   THE 
BEGINNING   OF   THE   TWENTIETH   CENTURY 

References:  C.  J.  H.  Hayes,  A  Political  and  Social 
History  of  Modern  Europe,  Vol.  II.,  Chapters 
XVIIL,  XXI.,  XXVII.;  Schapiro,  Modem  and 
Contemporary  European  History,  Chapters  III., 
XXIV.,  XXVI.,  XXVIII. ;  E.  P.  Cheney,  An 
Introduction  to  the  Industrial  and  Social  History 
of  England;  A.  R.  Wallace,  The  Wonderful  Cen- 
tury; E.  W.  Bryn,  The  Progress  of  Invention  in 
the  Nineteenth  Centur}';  J.  A.  Hobson,  The  Evo- 
lution of  Modem  Capitalism;  J.  Spargo,  Socialism; 
P.  Leroy-Beaulieu,  The  Awakening  of  the  East. 

Democracy  LOOKING  back  over  the  development  of  Europe  in  the 

fsm  The  driv-  nineteenth  century,  we  mark  substantially  the  same  po- 

mg  agents  of  Jitical  movement  among  all  its  peoples,  though  exhibiting 

politics  during  a  variable  volume  and  intensity.    Its  characteristic  ele- 

the  nineteenth  .       ,  i      r  ^   •        •  i  i^  j  j 

century.  ments,  the  forces  most  m  \iew,  have  been  democracy  and 

nationalism,  the  former  operating  to  increase  the  power 
and  influence  of  the  people,  the  latter  aiming  to  effect  a 
reorganization  of  the  e:dsting  governments  along  strictly 
national  lines.  The  results  by  the  year  of  grace  1900 
are  striking,  for  while  one  of  the  agents,  democracy,  has 
succeeded  in  generally  replacing  an  irresponsible  absolut- 
ism with  the  constitutional  system  and  has  made  decided 
progress  toward  its  goal  of  universal  suffrage,  the  other 
agent,   nationalism,  has  performed  no  less  astonishing 

530 


At  the  Beginning  of  the  Twentieth  Century   531 


feats,  as,  for  example,  the  unification  of  the  divided  Italian 
and  German  peoples,  the  erection  on  the  ruins  of  the 
Ottoman  empire  of  the  small  Balkan  states,  and  the  issu- 
ance of  a  challenge  to  the  composite  state  of  Austria- 
Hungary  and  to  the  still  vaster  mass  of  Russia  in  the  form 
of  a  vigorous  nationalist  ferment  among  their  component 
peoples. 

Doubtless,  the  thoughtful  student  has  long  been  moved  Democracy 
to  ask:  WTiy  democracy,  why  nationalism?  Why  is  it  fsm  manifesta- 
that  these  vital  forces  put  in  an  appearance  exactly  when  civniz°fti^n!^"" 
they  did,  and  why  did  they  acquire  so  irresistible  an  im- 
petus? Before  attempting  to  answer  these  questions  it  is 
necessary  to  refer  once  more  to  the  purpose  and  char- 
acter of  this  book.  Concerned  primarily,  if  not  exclu- 
sively, with  political  phenomena,  it  does  not  seek  to 
penetrate  below  the  surface  to  the  deeper  springs  of  human 
action.  While  this  limitation  of  program  may  be  amply 
justified  in  a  work  offering  no  more  than  a  First  View, 
it  is  undeniable  that  at  a  certain  point — a  point  which 
we  may  now  consider  ourselves  to  have  reached — it  be- 
comes advisable  to  lift  the  veil  in  order  to  have  a  look 
behind  appearances  to  their  compelling  causes.  For  causes, 
subtle  and  deep-lying,  such  dynamic  movements  as  democ- 
racy and  nationalism  must  unperatively  have,  and  very 
little  reflection  will  show  that  they  are  inextricably  tied 
up  with  that  complex  and  enveloping  phenomenon  indi- 
cated by  the  convenient  collective  term  of  ci\'ilization. 
For  the  sake  of  the  fuller  understanding  which  we  crave 
we  must  now  essay  to  trace  some  of  the  characteristic 
features  of  the  ci\ilization  of  our  time. 

Nineteenth-century  civilization  is  so  many-sided  and  Science  the 
comphcated  that  it  is  an  impossible  feat  of  mental  leger-  ern  civilization, 
demain  to  describe  it  in  a  nutshell.     Let  us  agree  that 
its  kernel,  its  central  principle,  is  science,  and  let  us  loosely 


532  Character  of  European  Civilization 


The  tool  of 
modern 
science:   the 
inductive 
method. 


define  science  (from  Latin  scire  =  to  know)  as  the  whole 
body  of  knowledge  which,  in  the  course  of  the  ages,  man 
has  succeeded  in  accumulating  concerning  himself  and  the 
world  in  which  he  lives.  Though  man  began  the  collec- 
tion of  knowledge  in  remote  antiquity  and  has  successfully 
added  to  his  store  ever  since,  it  is  undeniable  that  his 
hunger  for  information  received  a  particularly  powerful 
stimulus  about  the  time  of  the  voyages  of  discovery  and 
the  revival  of  learning,  and  that  the  Modern  Age,  which 
these  movements  ushered  in,  came  in  a  very  conspicuous 
way  to  be  dedicated  to  the  increase  of  knowledge.  That 
increase,  however,  though  always  considered  desirable,  was 
for  hundreds  and  thousands  of  years  a  matter  of  guess-work 
and  happy  accident  because  of  the  absence  of  a  method 
which  would  serve  to  separate  truth  from  error  and  to 
permit  the  sure  and  systematic  conquest  of  the  universe. 
By  such  a  method,  if  it  were  discoverable,  certainty  would 
gradually  replace  conjecture  and  our  knowledge  acquire 
that  character  of  exactness  which  is  precisely  the  feature 
distinguishing  it  in  our  time  and  supplying  the  solid  basis 
of  our  present  civilization. 

This  needed  instrument  of  research,  chiefly  responsible 
for  the  recent  enormous  multiplication  of  our  knowledge, 
is  known  as  the  inductive  method.  Used  in  an  imperfect 
form  as  early  as  the  Reformation,  it  has  since  been  steadily 
improved  and  gained  an  increasing  authority.  Its  essence 
is  observation,  involving  the  most  minute  and  loving  scru- 
tiny of  the  material  furnished  by  the  senses.  But  obser- 
vation alone  would  not  have  carried  us  far.  It  was  grad- 
ually supplemented  by  experimentation,  which  by  ingen- 
ious artifices,  and  latterly  with  the  aid  of  highly  equipped 
laboratories,  has  enabled  the  investigator  to  isolate  his 
phenomena  and  to  control  the  conditions  under  which 
they  act.     Finally,  special  apparatus,  such  as  the  tele- 


At  the  Beginning  of  the  Twentieth  Century    533 


scope  and  microscope,  has  come  to  the  aid  of  observation 
by  disclosing  data  forever  hidden  from  the  feeble  senses 
with  which  nature  has  endowed  us. 

A  satisfactory  account  of  the  leaders  of  thought  who  The  vast  in- 

.  ^     ,       .    J  crease  of  know!- 

by  their  use,  durmg  the  last  three  centuries,  of  the  mduc-  edge  since  the 
tive  method  have  filled  to  overflowing  the  cup  of  human  Reformation, 
knowledge  would  call  for  an   encyclopedia.     In  fact,  it 
was  to  tell  of  the  achievements  of  these  men  that  encyclo- 
pedias were  first  invented.     Merely  to  convey  an  idea  of 
the  vastness  of  the  subject,  let  us  consider  for  a  moment  a 
few  outstanding  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  century  names, 
such  as  Copernicus  (d.  1543),  Kepler  (d.  1630),  GaUleo 
(d.  1642),  and  Newton  (d.  1727).    They  make  up  a  galaxy 
of  early  investigators  who,  concerned  with  physics  and 
astronomy,  interests  inherited  from  antiquity,  gave  us  a 
new  understanding  of  the  solar  system  and  ended  by  dis- 
closing the  mechanical  nature  of  the  universe,  together 
with  the  laws  of  gra\dtation  holding  its  parts  in  perpetual 
equiUbrium.    After  Newton's  day,  that  is,  with  the  com- 
ing of  the  eighteenth  century,  investigation  was  acceler- 
ated, and  by  the  time  the  nineteenth  century  was  reached 
faith  in  the  efficacy  of  the  new  method,  the  method  of 
induction,  had  become  so  general  a  possession  that  stead- 
ily growing  numbers  of  enthusiasts  devoted  their  lives 
to  the  study  of  the  phenomenal  world.     An  inevitable 
consequence  of  the  collection  of  an  overwhelming  mass 
of  data  was  that  science  had  to  be  divided  into  smaller 
and  ever  smaller  domains,  each  in  charge  of  a  group  of 
specialists,  and  that  knowledge  became  so  vast  a  body  of 
fact  that  no  single  individual  could  any  longer  hope  to 
master  it.    One  has  but  to  glance  at  the  catalogue  of  a 
modern  university  and  note  the  many  sub-heads  into 
which  the  activities  of  chemists  or  physicists  or  botanists, 
or  any  other  group  of  investigators,  have  fallen  to  get  a 


534  Character  of  European  Civilization 

vivdd  impression  of  the  refinement  and  specialization  of 
present-day  science. 
The  purpose  of       But  all  this  exacting  labor — was  it  engaged  in  for  its 

science  is  to 

serve  mankind,  own  sake?  All  this  fresh  knowledge — was  it  collected  as 
an  end  in  itself  just  to  fill  the  garners  of  the  mind?  The 
champions  of  the  movement  would  have  been  the  first 
to  answer  that  their  labors  were  undertaken  in  the  ulti- 
mate hope  of  benefiting  humanity.  They  would  have  de- 
clared with  a  single  voice  that  they  expected  inventions 
and  labor-saving  devices  to  be  derived  from  the  cumula- 
tive captures  of  knowledge  which  would  lighten  man's 
burden  in  the  struggle  for  existence  and  would,  while 
elevating  the  human  race  to  a  higher  level  of  intelligence, 
prepare  for  it  a  destiny  as  rich  and  happy  as  any  ever 
glimpsed  by  seer  or  poet.  Whether  this  goal  has  been 
or  is  likely  to  be  achieved  is  a  question  which,  though 
very  important  in  itself,  does  not  concern  us  here.  All 
that  concerns  us  is  the  more  or  less  conscious  utilitarian 
purpose  which  has  been  behind  the  scientific  movement 
from  the  start. 
Science  gave  us  We  are  all  aware  that  increase  of  knowledge  has  from 
and  the  ma^'  the  earliest  time  led  to  mechanical  inventions  and  that 
dustri'ai^r^v"i  inventions  have  played  a  leading  role  in  the  progress  of 
tion.  mankind.     When   our  remote   ancestors    made  a  stone 

hatchet  and  followed  it  up  with  the  bow  and  arrow,  they 
registered  a  tremendous  advance  over  the  other  animals. 
The  boat,  the  wagon,  the  loom,  all  reaching  back  to  gray 
antiquity,  suffice  to  indicate  that  man's  mind  always 
had  an  ingenious  turn.  But  not  till  knowledge  was  sys- 
tematized and  made  exact,  that  is,  not  until  recent  times, 
were  inventions  possible  on  a  scale  large  enough  to  alter 
radically  the  traditional  basis  of  the  human  struggle.  For 
only  the  modern  movement,  identified  with  the  inductive 
method,  had  disclosed  the  immense  wild  forces  of  nature 


At  the  Beginning  of  the  Twentieth  Century   535 

which  the  modern  inventor  would  make  it  his  business 
to  domesticate  and  put  at  the  service  of  the  race.  Wres- 
tling with  this  problem,  he  presently  created  the  machine, 
and  the  startling  and  almost  incalculable  multiplication 
in  recent  generations  of  machines  of  every  kind  and  de- 
scription has  stamped  upon  our  age  its  pecuHar  character. 
The  nineteenth  century  became  a  machine  age,  which 
means  that  the  hoary  and  venerable  system  of  production 
by  hand  was  abandoned  and  that  an  economic  movement 
was  inaugurated  which,  in  view  of  its  sweeping  conse- 
quences, has  been  aptly  called  the  industrial  revolution. 

The  industrial  revolution,  although  well  named,  was  very  The  industrial 
unlike  the  usual  political  revolution  in  that  it  was  inaug-  augurated  with 
urated  neither  to  the  wild  ringing  of  bells  nor   to  the  new  textile 

.       ,       .  ,      machinery  and 

loud  rattle  of  firearms.  It  began  almost  unnoticed  with  the  steam- 
halting  experiments  by  resolute  individuals  capable  of  ^"^'"^■ 
sacrificing  themselves  for  an  idea.  Appearing  first  in 
England,  in  the  second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
the  movement  in  its  earliest  phase  concentrated  its  atten- 
tion upon  improvements  in  the  processes  of  spinning  and 
weaving  cloth.  Presently  an  engineer,  James  Watt  by 
name,  made  an  invention  of  another  sort,  for  he  devised 
around  1770  the  steam-engine.  Set  to  drive  the  new 
textile  machinery  of  looms  and  spinning  jennies,  a  single 
steam-engine  could  deliver  more  power  than  scores  of  men 
and  even  horses.  The  new  force,  steam,  opened  an  al- 
most boundless  prospect.  By  the  early  decades  of  the 
nineteenth  century  its  use  was  rapidly  spreading  over 
western  Europe,  and  with  it  went  the  installation  of  iron- 
made,  expensive,  factory-housed  machinery.  Admirable 
for  driving  stationary  machines,  what  was  to  hinder  hitch- 
ing the  steam-engine  to  vehicles  and  boats?  The  thought 
came  to  many,  but  it  was  not  till  1807  that  Robert  Fulton, 
an  American,  launched  the  first  practicable  steamboat, 


536 


Character  of  European  Civilisation 


Social 

consequences 
of  the 
industrial 
revolution. 


and  not  till  1825  that  George  Stephenson,  an  Englishman, 
constructed  a  locomotive  capable  of  drawing  a  train  of 
cars.  Steamboat  and  locomotive,  improved  with  each 
new  year  in  one  particular  or  another,  completely  revolu- 
tionized travel  and  transportation.  Set  to  perform  ever 
new  tasks,  the  steam-engine  became  the  sleepless  titan 
who  labored  day  and  night  in  the  interests  of  his  puny 
master,  man. 

Sharp  on  the  heel  of  these  changes  in  manufacture  and 
transportation  followed  a  reorganization  of  society. 
Steam-driven  machinery  brought  with  it  an  amazing  in- 
crease in  the  production  of  goods,  while  railroads  and 
steamboats  secured  their  rapid  and  relatively  inexpensive 
transfer  to  near  and  far-off  points.  Distances  were  cut 
down  to  such  an  extent  that  not  only  were  the  different 
countries  of  Europe  but  also  the  scattered  continents  of 
the  earth  so  closely  brought  together  that,  for  commer- 
cial purposes,  they  became  related  parts  of  a  single  whole. 
Within  each  European  country,  as  soon  as  it  experienced 
these  economic  changes,  important  social  changes  fol- 
lowed. The  people  of  the  countryside  tended  to  gravi- 
tate to  the  to^^^ls,  where  the  machines  were,  and  while 
the  towns,  generally  speaking,  grew  by  leaps  and  bounds, 
those  towns  favorably  located  in  respect  of  much  traveled 
routes  of  commerce,  or  close  to  deposits  of  coal  and  iron, 
basic  raw  products  of  the  new  age,  waxed  to  great  metrop- 
olises fed  by  a  steady  stream  of  immigration.  The  im- 
migrants, piled  pell-mell  around  the  dingy,  smoke-belching 
factories,  found  shelter  as  best  they  could  in  wretched 
tenements.  Squalid  blocks  of  these  human  warrens  con- 
stituted a  special  workingmen's  quarter  or  slum  over  which 
discomfort,  dirt,  disease,  and  crime  stretched  a  pall  of  un- 
interrupted gloom.  While  the  whole  community  suffered 
in  its  health  and  morals  from  these  plague-spots,  the  pale 


At  the  Beginning  of  the  Twentieth  Century    537 


laborers  and  their  pinched  and  emaciated  wives  and  chil- 
dren showed  unmistakably  who  were  the  chief  victims. 
During  at  least  the  early  phases  of  the  industrial  move- 
ment the  factory-hands  and  tenement-dwellers  looked  very 
much  like  a  new  class  of  economic  slaves. 

The  gradual  emancipation  of  the  workers,  their  uplift  improvement 
to  a  higher  plane  of  freedom  and  dignity,  is  one  of  the  j^e  factor' 
most  important  stories  of  the  nineteenth  century,  but  workers, 
cannot  be  told  here.     Suffice  it  that  improvements  in 
their  lot  were  effected  bit  by  bit  in  various  ways,  by 
philanthropy,  by  humane  societies  formed  to  mitigate 
special  evils,  such  as  tuberculosis  and  overcrowding,  but 
chiefly  by  means  of  organizations  among  the  workingmen 
themselves,  called  trade  or  labor  unions,  which  by  col- 
lective bargaining  and,  in  the  last  resort,  by  strikes  forced 
the  employers  to  reduce  hours,  increase  wages,  and  im- 
prove the  conditions  of  living. 

With  this  program  of  a  gradual  improvement  of  the  increasing 
economic  status  of  the  workingmen  the  trade  unions,  con-  wTkingmen 
trolled  by  practical  men,  themselves  laborers,  were  for  a  put  their  faith 
long  time  content.     However,  toward  the  middle  of  the  changes  and 
nineteenth  century  certain  leaders  of  thought,  usually  not  sodalism. 
workingmen,  made  their  appearance  in  labor  circles  to 
preach  the  complete  overthrow  of  the  existing  economic 
system  and  the  taking  over  of  the  means  of  production 
and  transportation — factories,  mines,  railroads — by  the 
workers  themselves.    These  intellectual  radicals,  though 
differing  considerably  from  one  another  in  the  details  of 
their  proposals,  agreed  in  the  one  all-important  demand  of 
changing   the   current   system   of  production   from   the 
ground  up.    Looking  forward  to  a  socialized  and  co- 
operative, instead  of  an  individualist  and  competitive  sys- 
tem, they  may  be  conveniently  classified  as  socialists.    In 
the  second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  one  such  theorist. 


538  Character  of  European  Civilization 


a  German,  Karl  Marx  by  name,  acquired  such  an  as- 
cendancy in  the  reahns  of  radical  economic  thought  that 
almost  the  whole  revolutionary  working-class  movement 
was  finally  gathered  under  his  banner.  Marx's  book 
called  Capital  (1867),  which  criticizes  the  existing,  and 
sketches  an  ideal  system,  became  in  effect  the  Holy  Book 
or  Bible  of  the  new  socialist  doctrine.  Organized  both 
nationally  and  internationally,  Marxian  sociaHsm  boasted 
with  each  new  decade  increasing  numbers  of  adherents  in 
every  country  of  Europe. 
The  industrial  While  giving  due  weight  to  the  condition  and  struggles 
th°/busrness  o^  of  those  who,  as  workingmen,  constitute  the  innumerable 
middle  class.  servants  of  the  new  industrial  tools,  we  must  not  let  our- 
selves be  diverted  from  perceiving  that  something,  if  not 
more  important,  at  least  more  conspicuous,  was  simultane- 
ously being  brought  about  in  another  social  group.  It  is 
evident  that  the  umiiediate  manipulators  of  the  industrial 
revolution  who,  as  bankers  supplying  the  money  and  as 
factory  and  transportation  chiefs  supplying  the  brains, 
captained  the  movement,  were  tightly  held  together  in 
the  net  of  a  common  interest.  Not  only  did  they  direct 
the  vastly  increased  production  and  exchange,  but  they 
also  absorbed  the  waxing  profits  and  became  wealthy. 
Referred  to  in  the  United  States  as  business  men,  in 
Europe  they  came  to  be  generally  designated  as  the 
middle  class  or  bourgeoisie.  Let  us  make  no  mistake 
about  it:  the  nineteenth  century  world  is  largely  of 
their  making.  Even  at  the  beginning  of  the  era,  back  in 
the  days  of  the  Holy  Alliance,  they  felt,  by  a  sort  of 
passionate  instinct,  that  if  only  they  were  given  a  free 
field  and  no  favors,  they  would  in  very  short  order  in- 
dustrialize the  world  to  the  world's  advantage,  in- 
cidentally making  themselves  the  unquestioned  masters 
of  the  situation. 


At  the  Beginning  of  the  Twentieth  Century   539 


Unfortunately,  however,  the  old  organization  of  society,  The  middle 

''  '  1    •        1  r   ii-       '^''is^  suma  first 

inherited  from  the  Middle  Age,  stood  in  the  way  ot  the  at  economic 
new  and  rising  order.    The  old  organization  favored  the  p^JtSJaT  ^^ 
clergy  and  nobility,  while  heavily  taxmg  commerce  and  preponderance, 
industry  and  burdening  them  with  a  whole  network  of 
regulations  in  the  real  or  supposed  interest  of  the  state. 
Wanting  supremely  to  use  the  new  business  opportunities 
without  let  or  hindrance,  the  middle  class  developed  a 
theory  or  philosophy  of  economic  freedom  which  has  been 
called  by  various  names,  such  as  laisscr-faire  (to  let  alone) 
and   individualism.     Economic   freedom,    it   was   calcu- 
lated, would,  if  only  applied  broadly  enough,  lift  the  new 
class  of  bankers,  managers,  and  business  people  into  the 
saddle.     First,  it  would  serve  as  a  rallying-cry  against 
the  older  privileged  classes,  the  clergy  and  nobihty,  and, 
by  depriving  them  of  their  traditional  advantages,  reduce 
them  to  the  level  of  the  middle  class;  then  it  would  break 
down  the  antiquated  governmental  regulations,  stupidly 
tying  the  hands  of  enterprise;  and  finally,  it  would  so 
greatly  increase  the  wealth  and  therewith  the  economic 
preponderance  of  the  bourgeoisie  that  the  machinery  of 
the  state  would  slowly  but  inevitably  pass  into  the  hands 
of  those  who  were  everywhere  bearing  the  burden  of  society 
and  doing  its  constructive  work. 

By  these  and  related  steps  the  industrial  revolution   The  middle 
passed  into  the  realm  of  politics.     At  this  point  the  main   ^j^^'  Hberalf'm 
stages  of  the  movement  we  have  been  tracing  are  worth  ""^^^^^^^  ^^''*-'''''' 
recapitulating.     Science  gave  birth  to  the  machine;  the 
machine  produced,  in  addition  to  the  working  class,  nu- 
merous but  relatively  powerless,  the  middle  class,  owner 
and  manager  of  the  machine;  the  middle  class,  desirous  to 
free  itself  from  the  influence  of  the  older  classes  and  from 
the  control  of  the  more  or  less  autocratic  state,  adopted  the 
platform  of  economic  freedom  called  laisscr-faire  or  indi- 


540  Character  of  European  Civilization 


The 

programme 
of  the  liberal 
party. 


Democracy 
and  national- 


vidualism;  and  finally,  in  order  to  translate  its  programme 
into  action,  the  middle  class  formed  a  political  party  re- 
solved to  capture  power  and  ofl5ce.  It  was  under  the  name 
of  liberal  party  or  some  designation  conveying  the  same 
idea  that  the  bourgeoisie  of  every  country  of  Europe  or- 
ganized and  entered  the  arena  of  public  life.  The  name 
serv^ed  to  proclaim  that  the  middle  class,  face  to  face  with 
an  antiquated  state  and  with  hostile  conservative  classes, 
instinctively  averse  to  change,  planned  to  pursue  a  poHcy  of 
hberalism,  that  is,  a  policy  of  movement  and  reorganization. 

Examine  nineteenth  century  liberalism  and  it  will  be 
found  that  its  political  tool,  the  liberal  party,  is  every- 
where the  party  of  the  middle  class,  existing  expressly  for 
the  purpose  of  capturing  the  legislature  and  the  govern- 
ment to  the  end  of  establishing  its  mastery  of  society  and 
of  realizing  its  programme.  And  what  is  that  programme? 
Everywhere  essentially  this:  aboHtion  of  the  pri\ileges  of 
the  older  classes,  equality  of  all  men  before  the  law, 
political  enfranchisement,  freedom  of  economic  enterprise 
from  state  control,  Hberty  of  religion,  press,  and  public  as- 
sembly. What  we  have  encountered  in  our  story  of  Eu- 
rope as  democracy  is  therefore  the  offspring  of  liberalism 
and  recites  the  \ictorious  and  uninterrupted  advance  of 
the  middle  class.  And  nationalism,  no  less  than  democ- 
racy, is  a  liberahst  product.  For  nationalism  demands  the 
free  union  of  all  people  of  the  same  speech  and  customs, 
and  since  such  a  union  tends  to  end  the  exploitation  con- 
ducted by  a  foreign  ruling  powder  or  by  an  inherited  govern- 
ing group,  it  is  favored  by  the  middle  class,  aware  that  the 
overthrow  of  the  traditional  regime  must  automatically 
bring  the  leaders  of  commerce  and  industry  to  the  fore. 

Democracy  and  nationalism,  around  which  the  whole 


ism  spring  from  political  story  of  nineteenth  century  Europe  was  foimd  by 
civilization.        US  to  tum,  are  thus  clearly  tied  up  with  all  that  is  most 


NOTE  TO  THE  STUDENT: 

.  The  most  valuable  parts  of  Africa  are  in  possession  of  Eng- 
Porlugitese  \  land  (Cape  Colony,  Transvaal,  Egypt)  and  France(  Algeria,  ■ 
Tunis).     The   rest  of  the   continent  is  subject   to  com- 
mercial  exploitation   by   Europeans,   but  can    never    be 
settled  by  them,  at  least  not  in  large  numbers. 

THE  MATTHEWS-NORTHRUP  WORKS,  BUFFALO,    N.Y.      \ j 1 I f 


iOovQO  Slate 


20  '  West   from    10'  Greenirich    0 " 


10"  Longitude   20 "  E«8t   from  30'    Greenwich   40' 


At  the  Beginning  of  the  Twentieth  Century    541 


science  and 
invention. 


characteristic  of  the  nineteenth  century — with  the  rise  of 
the  business  classes,  with  the  industrial  revolution,  with 
machines,  with  science,  in  a  word,  with  civilization.  It 
would  hardly  be  going  too  far  to  set  up  an  historical 
syllogism  on  something  of  this  order:  given  science  with 
its  corollary,  mechanical  invention,  as  a  premise,  democ- 
racy and  nationalism  must  follow  as  a  simple  matter  of 
social  logic. 
Though  we  started  with  the  limited  purpose  of  relating  Uninterrupted 

...  .  1  ,  •    •!•      forward 

nineteenth  century  pohtics  to  nmeteenth  century  civili-  movement  of 
zation,  we  may  hope  to  penetrate  to  a  still  better  under- 
standing of  our  age  by  spinning  somewhat  further  the 
thread  of  nineteenth  century  progress.  The  steam- 
engine,  driving  powerful,  iron-built  machinery,  proved 
only  a  beginning  among  epoch-making  inventions.  Other 
discoveries  and  contrivances  followed,  each  decade  mag- 
nificently outdoing  the  one  which  it  succeeded.  The 
natural  forces  captured,  the  mechanical  devices,  the  im- 
provements in  transportation,  the  endless  conveniences 
and  luxuries  beggar  description.  A  few  scattered  in- 
dications will  serve  to  recall  a  picture  familiar  to  all. 
The  most  valuable  force  recently  brought  under  the  yoke 
by  man  is  doubtless  electricity.  As  a  motive  power  for 
industry  and  transportation  it  has,  if  not  displaced  steam, 
at  least  widely  supplemented  it,  while  in  addition,  it  has 
served  to  light  our  cities  and  houses  and  marvelously 
expedited  communication  by  means  of  the  telegraph,  the 
telephone,  and  the  submarine  cable.  Wireless  teleg- 
raphy, developed  but  yesterday,  shows  that  we  are  not 
yet  at  the  end  of  the  wonders  of  this  force.  If  we  further 
remind  ourselves  that  with  the  new  century  man  resolutely 
undertook  to  gain  the  mastery  of  the  air  and  that  a  be- 
ginning, but  so  far  only  a  beginning,  has  been  made  with 
that  amazing  new  force,  the  X-ray,  it  becomes  difficult  to 


542  Character  of  European  Civilization 

refrain  from  prophesying  that  in  the  command  of  natural 
power  the  man  of  the  next  generation  will  be  as  far  ahead 
of  the  nineteenth  century  as  the  much  glorified  nineteenth 
century  was  ahead  of  the  Middle  Age. 
Industrialized  We  come  HOW  to  another  aspect  of  the  industrial  revolu- 
out  to  conquer  tion:  its  radiation  over  the  whole  earth.  While  Europe 
t  e  wor  .  j^^g  remained  its  center  because  the  European  man  has 
created  the  occidental  type  of  civilization  and  possesses 
superior  educational,  social,  and  other  institutions,  it  has 
none  the  less  gradually  made  its  way  to  every  shore  and 
clime.  Chief  agents  of  its  spread  were  the  enterprising 
business  men  of  England,  France,  and  Germany  who, 
after  supplying  the  home  markets,  naturally  sought  to 
dispose  of  their  surplus  goods  by  sending  them  abroad. 
To  this  end  merchants,  manufacturers,  shipowners,  and 
financiers,  acting  in  necessary  cooperation,  offered  the 
factory  products  of  their  respective  countries  for  sale, 
accepting  in  exchange  such  raw  products  as  wheat,  min- 
erals, sugar,  cotton,  rubber,  and  other  specialties,  which 
Europe  either  did  not  produce  or  produced  in  insufficient 
quantities.  Soon  Asia  and  Africa  were  enmeshed  in  trade 
relations  which  may  indeed  have  brought  some  comforts 
and  alleviation  to  their  peoples  but  which  in  certain  re- 
spects inevitably  operated  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  back- 
ward societies  of  these  continents  by  reducing  them  to  a 
substantial  dependence  on  European  enterprise  and  organi- 
zation. The  case  of  America,  more  particularly  of  the 
United  States,  does  not  fall  under  this  head  because  the 
United  States,  by  imitating  Europe,  very  soon  developed 
such  industrial  strength  as  to  enable  it  to  compete  with 
Europe  on  a  basis  of  equality.  Asia  and  Africa,  on  the 
other  hand,  appeared  in  the  light  of  prizes  to  the  European 
nations,  which  presently  engaged  in  a  wild  scramble  among 
themselves  for  the  control  of  the  more  promising  areas. 


I 


colonial 
empires. 


At  the  Beginning  of  the  Twentieth  Century   543 

Thus  was  inaugurated  a  colonial  race  among  the  Eu-  The  colonial 
ropean  powers  which  led  in  the  course  of  a  few  furious  and''the  '""^ 
decades  to  the  appropriation  of  Africa  and  large  sections 
of  Asia.  By  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century  Morocco 
in  Africa,  and  China,  Turkey,  and  Persia  in  Asia  still  held 
out  against  European  pressure,  but  these  independent 
remnants  of  two  vast  continents  were  so  rapidly  growing 
feeble  that  they  were  manifestly  doomed.  Even  at  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  before  the  industrial 
revolution  was  well  under  way,  the  by  far  largest  colonial 
empire  in  the  world  was  the  British.  Since  the  industrial 
revolution  began  in  Britain  and  bloomed  there  as  nowhere 
else,  the  British  empire  was  enabled  to  absorb  vast  new 
areas  and  at  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  still 
easily  the  world's  colonial  leader.  France  and  Russia, 
however,  had  not  been  idle.  They  registered  great  suc- 
cessive enlargements,  France  chiefly  in  Africa,  Russia  in 
Asia,  and  by  the  year  1900  followed,  though  at  some  dis- 
tance, in  the  British  wake.  Germany,  though  entering 
the  race  late,  due  to  her  tardy  unification,  tried  to  make  up 
for  lost  time  by  increased  \igor,  while  Italy,  in  spite  of 
certain  handicaps  due  to  lack  of  industrial  resources,  was 
firmly  resolved  not  to  be  left  behind.  The  United  States, 
as  a  result  of  the  Spanish  war  of  1898,  acquired  the 
Philippines  and  the  control  of  Cuba,  and  from  that  hour 
necessarily  figured  in  the  contest. 

It  is  clear  that  when  the  twentieth  centur}'  opened  Great  Colonialism 
Britain,  France,  Russia,  Germany,  Italy,  and  the  United  imperialism. 
States  were  the  main  factors  in  the  colonial  race.  It  is 
also  clear  that  the  colonial  race  was  in  its  earliest  phase 
economic,  that  is,  it  was  a  contest  among  the  merchant 
groups  of  the  rival  nations  for  markets,  raw  products,  in- 
vestments, in  a  word,  for  wealth.  But  from  the  first, 
though  often  imperceptibly,  a  political  element  was  intro- 


544  Character  of  European  Civilization 

duced  into  the  struggle.  Behind  the  merchants  were  their 
respective  governments,  everywhere  more  or  less  identified 
with  the  merchants,  and  these  governments,  disposing  of 
political  power  expressed  in  terms  of  diplomacy,  navies, 
and  armies,  carried  the  issue  of  markets  and  subject- 
areas  into  the  political  sphere.  They  bargained  with  one 
another,  they  signed  treaties,  they  covertly  or  openly 
threatened,  and  thus  converted  colonialism,  a  movement 
of  economic  expansion,  into  its  political  counterpart,  im- 
perialism. They  appealed  to  nationalist  pride  to  arouse 
the  masses  and  get  them  behind  their  imperialist  designs, 
and  they  steadily  developed  their  armies  and  navies  to 
give  point  to  their  negotiations  and  put  potential  weight 
behind  their  territorial  claims. 
Imperialism  By  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century  colonialism, 

specter  of  war.  overshadowed  threateningly  by  imperialism,  had  become  a 
matter  of  world  concern,  and  from  time  to  time,  as,  for 
instance,  when  one  power  made  an  appropriation  of  terri- 
tory on  which  some  other  power  had  likewise  cast  an  eye, 
a  crisis  was  precipitated  which  raised  the  specter  of  a 
general  war.  Since  countless  inventions  had  enormously 
increased  the  means  of  destruction,  a  general  war,  if  it 
occurred,  would  be  terrible  and  might  involve  the  ruin  of 
civilization.  Was  this  then  to  be  the  outcome  of  the 
movement  of  science  and  industry  which  had  brought  so 
many  material  advantages  and  which  had  been  acclaimed 
as  the  greatest  triumph  of  the  human  spirit? 
Rise  of  Against  this  disastrous  outcome  of  the  passionate  Eu- 

international-  •      ^   •  j.     a.  i  j  iij^^i 

ism  among  the  ropcan  rivalries  a  protest,  weak  and  scattered  at  iirst, 
middle  classes,  bggan  to  make  itself  heard.  Several  streams  of  opinion 
contributed  to  swell  its  current.  Among  the  bourgeoisie 
of  the  various  nations  certain  large-hearted  and  broad- 
minded  elements,  commonly  called  intellectuals,  undertook 
to  organize,  regardless  of  poHtical  boundaries,  in  order  to 


At  the  Beginning  of  the  Twentieth  Century   545 


supply  a  counter-weight  to  the  wild  jingo  spirit  which  was 
abroad.  They  emphasized  the  interests  which  all  the 
nations  shared  as  inheritors  of  a  common  civilization  and 
met  and  fraternized  in  international  societies  of  medicine, 
law,  chemistry,  physics,  and  similar  divisions  of  knowledge. 
Other  liberal-minded  groups  organized  international  peace 
societies  which  issued  periodicals  spreading  their  propa- 
ganda far  and  wide.  Of  course  they  did  not  fail  to  point  out 
the  interesting  anomaly  that  the  governments  themselves, 
in  spite  of  their  predatory  tactics,  were  committed  to  a 
sort  of  practical  internationalism  by  virtue  of  postal, 
railroad,  shipping,  and  other  agreements  made  in  obedience 
to  the  imperative  necessities  of  modern  intercourse. 
Finally,  the  business  men,  authors  of  the  fierce  competi- 
tion, by  engaging  in  larger  and  ever  larger  transactions, 
were,  in  consequence  of  laws  beyond  their  control,  de- 
veloping an  internationalism  of  their  own  which  showed 
itself  in  a  general  pooling  of  their  financial  interests.  In 
the  eyes  of  any  man  of  average  enlightenment  it  was  clear 
as  day  that  the  unreasonable  national- imperialist  rivalries, 
though  fed  by  an  instinct  deep-rooted  in  the  heart  of  man, 
entailed  needless  economic  waste,  besides  inflicting  heavy 
spiritual  injury  on  humanity  as  a  whole. 

But  stronger  than  among  the  intellectuals  or  pacifists  international- 
or  any  other  group  afhliated  with  the  middle  class  was  the  ^^  socialists/^ 
sentiment  of  international  cooperation  among  those  work- 
ingmen  who,  deserting  trade  unionism,  had  gone  over  to 
the  socialists.  For  Marxian  socialism  was  avowedly 
anti-national,  inasmuch  as  it  was  predicated  on  the  class 
action  of  the  workingmen  of  all  the  countries  of  the  world. 
On  coming  together  from  time  to  time  in  a  general  con- 
gress the  socialists,  after  reaffirming  their  fixed  hostility 
to  the  existing  economic  system,  regularly  denounced  the 
imperialist  competition  of  the  great  powers  not  only  as 


546  Character  of  European  Civilization 

involving  the  most  outrageous  land-grabbing  and  con- 
cession-hunting the  world  has  ever  seen  but  also,  and  more 
particularly,  as  constituting  the  main  obstacle  to  the  peace 
which  everybody  professed  to  love. 
International  The  abundant  but  dispersed  peace  sentiment  abroad 
promoted  by  in  the  world  received  a  powerful  impetus  when  in  August, 
Confe'l^enSof  ^^9^'  ^zar  Nicholas  II.  issued  an  invitation  to  all  govern- 
i8gg  and  1907.  ments,  large  and  small,  to  meet  in  conference  at  The  Hague 
in  order  to  establish  peace,  if  not  permanently,  at  least  on 
a  sounder  basis  than  obtained,  by  means  of  a  general  re- 
duction of  armaments.  The  conference  took  place  (1899) 
amidst  high  hopes,  but  the  nationalist  and  imperialist 
rivalries  were  found  to  be  too  intense  to  permit  the  crea- 
tion of  a  new  international  order.  A  court  of  arbitration 
was  set  up  at  The  Hague,  to  which  governments  were 
advised  to  submit  their  disputes,  and  the  rules  of  war  were 
codified  in  the  interest  of  a  more  humane  prosecution  of 
armed  conflicts.  That  was  all.  The  First  Hague  con- 
ference was  hardly  more  than  a  beautiful  gesture.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  the  Second  Hague  conference  which 
met  in  1907  and  was  even  more  widely  attended  by  repre- 
sentatives of  the  governments  of  the  world.  Some  of  the 
ruling  minds  of  Europe  showed  that  they  were  possessed 
of  more  than  an  inkling  of  what  a  storm  might  break  from 
the  issues  of  imperialism  and  competitive  armaments, 
but  they  were  obliged  to  acknowledge  their  impotence  to 
exorcise  these  two  kindred  spirits  of  e\'il. 
Imperative  In  view  of  the  scattered  influences  promoting  inter- 

nltfonaiism^Yn  nationalism  among  the  middle  and  working  classes  and 
some  form  or  even,  to  a  limited  extent,  among  the  governments,  it  is 
possible  to  assert  that  the  international  movement  which 
emphasized  what  united  men  rather  than  what  separated 
them,  was  making  headway.  The  question  was  whether 
it  was  making  headway  fast  enough  to  keep  the  world  from 


At  the  Beginning  of  the  Twentieth  Century   547 

plunging  into  war.  For  it  was  reasonably  clear  that  if 
some  form  of  international  cooperation  was  not  found, 
capable  of  replacing  the  current  international  anarchy,  a 
catastrophe  would  be  precipitated,  terrible  and  absolutely 
incalculable  in  its  consequences. 

Meanwhile  with  internationalism  as  yet  but  an  idea  The  situation 
cherished  by  a  few  far-sighted  and  constructive  groups,   ihe  ^ovem-^  °^ 
the  situation  was  in  control  of  the  governments  who,  in  nients. 
the   main,  manipulated   the   nationalist   and   imperialist 
rivalries  with  selfish  unconcern  for  the  good  of  the  whole. 
To  the  negotiations  of  these  governments  and  to  the  quar- 
rels which  divided  them,  a  breathless  story  of  diplomacy, 
we  must  now  turn  our  attention.     For,  as  Europe  was 
poHtically  organized,  the  question  of  peace  was  bound,  in 
the  last  analysis,  to  hinge  on  diplomats  and  rulers,  every- 
where in  practically  uncontrolled  charge  of  foreign  affairs. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

EUROPEAN    DIPLOMATIC    RELATIONS    FROM    1871    TO     I914 
AND  THE   OUTBREAK   OF   THE   GREAT   WAR 

References:  C.  J.  ILa.yes,  A  Political  and  Social  His- 
tory of  Modern  Europe,  Vol.  II.,  particularly  Part 
v.;  ScHAPiRO,  Modern  and  Contemporary  Euro- 
pean History,  particularly  Chapter  XXIX.;  C.  D. 
Hazen,  Europe  Since  1815;  Schurman,  The  Bal- 
kan Wars;  C.  Seymour,  The  Diplomatic  Back- 
ground of  the  War,  1 870-1914;  W.  LiPPiiANN, 
The  Stakes  of  Diplomacy;  H.  A.  Gibbons,  The 
New  Map  of  Europe,  The  New  Map  of  Asia.  The 
New  Map  of  Africa;  J.  B.  Scott,  Diplomatic  Docu- 
ments Relating  to  the  Outbreak  of  the  European 
War;  Sidney  B.  Fay,  New  Light  on  the  Origin  of 
the  World  War  (The  American  Hist.  Review,  1920- 
21). 

Germany  Ti^E  Franco-German  war  of  1870-71  created  a  new 

dominates  the  diplomatic  situation  in  Europe.  The  signal  \-ictory  won 
situation  after  by  u  ited  Germany  made  the  new  empire  the  leading 
continental  power  and  caused  the  other  governments  to 
look  forward  with  interest  and  anxiety  to  the  policy 
which  it  would  adopt.  Bismarck,  who,  as  the  architect  of 
German  unity,  enjoyed  such  authority  that  he  exercised 
undisputed  sway  over  German  foreign  affairs,  was  not 
long  in  disclosing  his  hand.  In  order  that  his  country 
might  consolidate  the  result  of  the  three  successful  wars 
of  1864,  1866,  and  1871,  it  needed,  in  his  view,  above  all 
tilings  a  long  peace.     Since  the  only  probable  disturber 

548 


1871 


And  the  Outbreak  of  the  Great  War         549 

of  the  peace,  for  the  moment  at  least,  was  France,  which, 
as  a  defeated  power  wounded  in  its  deepest  feelings  by 
the  loss  of  Alsace-Lorraine,  was  patently  animated  with 
the  hope  of  revenge,  Bismarck  applied  all  his  skill  to  bring 
about  the  diplomatic  isolation  of  his  western  neighbor. 
His  thought  was  that  France  would  prove  dangerous  only 
in  case  she  succeeded  in  attaching  to  herself  an  ally. 

Since  Great  Britain  for  the  time  being  kept  aloof  from  Bismarck 
continental  affairs,  the  main  factors  in  Bismarck's  cal-  League  of  the 
culation  were  Russia  and  Austria-Hungary.     Italy,  as  not  ^^'^gj.ors 
immediately  bordering  on  Germany,  could  be  dismissed 
from  the  reckoning.    Only  in  case  France  won  the  close 
friendship  of  either  Russia  or  Austria-Hungary  would  she 
care  to  risk  a  war  with  her  Rhenish  neighbor.     With  these 
circumstances  in  mind  Bismarck  set  to  work  to  attach 
both  Russia  and  Austria-Hungary  to  Germany  and  suc- 
ceeded so  well  that  in  1872  the  rulers  of  the  three  empires 
entered  into  an  alliance  with  one  another. 

However,  an  agreement  yoking  together  Austria  and  Shipwreck  of 
Russia  was  a  precarious  affair  and  almost  certain  to  go  ^y^l  xh^e"^ 
by  the  boards  the  moment  the  Turkish  question  was  fhT^TmkisT'^'' 
mooted  between  them.    Both  had  for  generations  enter-  question, 
tained  with  regard  to  Turkey  ambitious  and  conflicting 
projects  which,  though  often  adjourned  because  of  the 
pressure  of  other  interests,  had  an  uncomfortable  habit 
of  making  a  periodical  reappearance.     A  grave  crisis  in 
Turkish  affairs  in  1875  immediately  aligned  Russia  and 
Austria-Hungary  on  opposite  sides,  and  when,  in  1877, 
Russia  went  to  war  with  Turkey  the  Hapsburg  govern- 
ment looked  on  with  disapproval,  promptly  converted  to 
alarm,  on  Russia's  winning  a  brilliant  victory  and  im- 
posing on  Turkey  the  peace  of  San  Stefano.     Since  Great 
Britain  took  the  Russian  successes  even  more  to  heart  than 
Austria,  the  two  aggrieved  governments  by  acting  to- 


550  European  Diplomatic  Relations  from  1871  to  igi4 

gether  were  able  to  force  the  czar  to  a  re\asion  of  his  San 
Stefano  treaty  at  a  congress  held  at  Berlin  (1878).  Russia, 
getting  less  than  she  considered  her  just  due,  was  out- 
raged, blamed  her  mid-European  friends  for  her  discom- 
fiture, and  grumblingly  withdrew  from  further  coopera- 
tion with  them.  The  Bismarckian  league  of  the  Three 
Emperors  was  at  an  end. 
Creation  of  Since   the   bitter   competition   over  Turkey   and   the 

aiHance*o^f         Balkan  peninsula  produced  a  clear  case  of  domestic  in- 
Germany,  compatibility  between  Austria  and  Russia,  Bismarck  was 

Italy.  obliged  to  be  content  with  the  association  of  either  one 

or  the  other  of  his  eastern  neighbors  and  chose  the  Danu- 
bian  monarchy.  In  the  year  1879  he  took  the  momentous 
step  of  concluding  a  defensive  alliance  with  that  state. 
Shortly  after  occurred  an  incident  destined  to  bring  an 
important  accession  to  the  Austro-German  partnership: 
France  and  Italy  engaged  in  a  diplomatic  clash  over  the 
Mediterranean.  France,  already  in  possession  of  Algiers, 
desired  to  extend  her  African  control  and  in  1881  seized 
Tunis,  nominally  a  Turkish  province,  though  really  an  in- 
dependent state.  Italy,  having  herself  cast  a  covetous  eye 
on  Tunis,  resented  the  action  of  France,  but  without  avail. 
Here  was  European  imperialism  in  action  with  a  typical 
seizure  of  a  backward  area  by  one  power  followed  by  the 
jealous  protest  of  another.  The  anti-French  indignation 
of  Italy  mounted  to  such  a  point  that  the  Italian  govern- 
ment applied  to  Bismarck  for  admission  to  the  German 
alUance  with  Austria,  thus  converting  it  (1882)  into  a 
Triple  alUance. 
Creation  of  the  The  Triple  alUance  of  the  three  central  European 
S^Fraicrand  powers,  though  avowedly  defensive  in  character,  directed 
^"^^'^-  an  unmistakable  edge  against  Russia  and  France  and 

operated  to  draw  these  two  unattached  states  together. 
Radically  dissimilar  in  political  oragnization,  the  absolute 


And  the  Outbreak  of  the  Great  War         551 


monarchy  of  the  czar  and  the  democratic  French  re- 
pubHc  hesitated  a  long  time  before  joining  hands  and  for- 
tunes. Finally,  in  1890,  driven  by  diplomatic  necessity 
and  disregarding  every  consideration  but  that  of  safety, 
they  effected  a  preliminary  arrangement  which  in  the  sub- 
sequent years  ripened  into  a  formal  alliance.  Thus  Eu- 
rope before  the  close  of  the  century  fell  into  the  two  op- 
posed camps  of  the  Triple  and  Dual  alliances,  which  main- 
tained a  delicate  and  perilous  balance  of  power,  with 
Great  Britain  mo\'ing  from  one  to  the  other  side  in  the  role 
of  a  wandering  comet  attached  to  neither  system. 

The  British  governments  of  the  time,  Conservative  Great  Britain 
and  Liberal  alike,  held  the  view  that  the  two  alliances  [hf  Dulf"  ^°'" 
dividing  Europe  had  crystaUized  over  purely  continental  alliance, 
matters  which  interested  Great  Britain  remotely  if  at 
all,  since  she  was  a  colonial  power  almost  exclusively 
pursuing  objects  lying  beyond  the  confines  of  Europe.  In 
consequence  Great  Britain  maintained  what  was  proudly 
proclaimed  as  "a  splendid  isolation."  However,  granting 
that  the  two  alliances  were  immediately  concerned  with 
near-by  matters,  the  five  member  powers  involved  had 
alike  embarked  on  an  imperialist  policy  and  any  given 
power,  whenever  it  launched  a  forward  movement  in 
Africa  or  Asia,  very  naturally  turned  for  support  to  its 
allies,  since  it  was  sure  to  meet  with  naught  but  ill-will  and 
resistance  from  its  rivals.  Thus  imperceptibly  the  two 
systems  extended  their  influence  so  as  to  take  in  the  whole 
world  and  presently  Great  Britain  found  that  her  isolation 
was  injurious,  perhaps  even  dangerous,  and  that,  in  order 
to  get  backing  for  her  own  projects,  she  would  be  doing 
well  to  join  hands  with  either  the  Triple  or  the  Dual 
alliance.  After  flirting  for  a  while  with  the  Triple  alliance, 
with  the  coming  of  the  twentieth  century  she  veered 
about  and  definitely  threw  in  her  lot  with  France  and 


552   European  Diplomatic  Relations  from  187 1  to  igi4 


Industrialized 
Germany  be- 
comes colonial 
and 
imperialist. 


Imperialism 
championed  by 
the  new  sover- 
eign, William 
II. 


Russia.  This  momentous  step  was  chiefly  due  to  the  grave 
alarm  excited  in  Great  Britain  by  the  economic  develop- 
ment and  diplomatic  policy  of  Germany. 

We  have  noted  the  remarkable  industrial  and  com- 
mercial development  of  Germany  following  her  unifica- 
tion. True,  it  was  no  isolated  movement,  since  the  eco- 
nomic expansion  was  general,  a  world  phenomenon,  but 
the  German  development  proceeded  apparently  at  a 
more  rapid  pace  than  that  of  its  neighbors,  and  in  any 
case  \asibly  provided  Germany,  a  hitherto  backward  na- 
tion, with  a  very  capable  industrial  organization,  a  vast 
merchant  fleet,  and  commercial  relations  extending  over 
all  the  earth.  Though  continuing,  from  an  economic 
viewpoint,  to  remain  inferior  to  Great  Britain,  she  was 
undoubtedly  pressing  more  and  more  closely  on  British 
heels.  Then,  in  the  eighties,  she  embarked  on  a  colonial 
policy,  acquiring  territory  chiefly  in  Africa.  As  we  have 
seen,  coloniaUsm,  primarily  an  economic  movement, 
usually  develops  into  imperialism,  concerned  with  terri- 
tory and  power,  and  in  the  nineties  German  policy  be- 
came definitely  imperialist. 

The  important  change  in  foreign  policy  occurred  simul- 
taneously with  a  change  of  rulers;  it  may  even  be  said 
to  have  been  at  least  partly  occasioned  by  that  change. 
In  1888  a  new  sovereign,  William  II.,  came  to  the  throne, 
shortly  after  his  accession  dismissed  Bismarck  from  office 
(1890),  and  then  with  masterful  self-sufficiency  undertook 
to  be  his  own  chancellor  and  foreign  minister.  What 
Bismarck  had  cautiously  refrained  from  doing,  that  is, 
from  identifying  himself  with  an  out-and-out  imperiaUst 
course  looking  to  territory  beyond  Europe,  the  ambitious 
William  II.  took  upon  himself,  and  as  the  most  daring 
step  toward  the  realization  of  his  hopes,  planned  the 
construction  of  a  navy.    Hitherto  Germany  had  had  no 


And  the  Outbreak  of  the  Great  War         553 

navy  worth  mentioning,  and  the  innovation  was  an  open 
announcement  that  she  was  about  to  make  a  bid  for  sea 
power. 

Sea  power  was  sought  and  in  varying  degree  possessed  The  issue  of 
by  every  imperialist  power  of  Europe,  but  it  was  un-  ranges^reat 
doubtedly  a  specialty  of  England.  In  fact,  the  British  0^^°^^^^'"^* 
empire  rested  on  the  control  of  the  seas,  and  the  very 
first  German  na\y  bill  authorizing  expenditure  on  a  large 
scale  (1898)  caused  a  shock  which  made  itself  felt  from 
John  o'  Groats  to  Land's  End.  When  the  first  bill  was 
followed  by  others  still  further  increasing  construction, 
Great  Britain  unhesitatingly  took  up  the  challenge, 
strengthened  her  navy  by  enormous  appropriations,  and 
successfully  maintained  an  easy  preponderance  over 
Germany.  She  had  for  generations  held  to  the  so-called 
two-power  standard,  which  meant  that  the  British  navy 
was  always  to  be  a  match  for  any  two  possible  rivals 
combined,  and  alarmed  by  the  action  of  the  power  across 
the  North  Sea,  she  attached  herself  to  the  programme  of 
the  two-power  standard  more  ardently  than  ever.  Nor 
was  that  all.  As  already  said,  early  in  the  twentieth 
century,  Great  Britain  made  up  her  mind  to  give  up  the 
friendly  neutrality  which  she  had  so  long  maintained 
among  the  European  powers  and  to  throw  her  influence 
into  the  scales  on  the  side  of  the  Dual  alliance  and  against 
Germany. 

Though  the  story  of  Anglo-German  rivalry  is  compli-  Great  Britain 
cated  with  innumerable  details  which  have  no  place  here,   France"and '° 
it  turns  substantially,  as  indicated,  around  the  question   Russia. 
of  German  imperialism.     Tactlessly  pushed  by  Emperor 
William  II,  in  and  out  of  season  and  given  in  English 
eyes  a  formidable  character  by  the  feature  of  a  powerful 
navy,   German  unperialism  moved  the  British  govern- 
ment to  turn  its  face  to  France  and  Russia  and  as  a  meas- 


554  European  Diplomatic  Relations  from  i8yi  to  IQ14 

ure  preliminary  to  a  better  understanding  with  them,  to 
attempt  an  accommodation  of  all  outstanding  differences. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  the  French  and  Russian 
imperialisms  had  been  the  most  successful  imperialisms 
in  Europe  after  that  of  Great  Britain,  and  that  all  through 
the  nineteenth  century  the  friction  among  these  three 
rivals  had  been  constant.  The  Crimean  War  of  1854,  to 
mention  but  a  single  instance,  was  a  combination  of  France 
and  England  formed  to  hinder  Russia  from  extending  her 
power  over  the  decaying  Turkish  Empire.  Since  then 
the  diplomatic  clashes  had  been  frequent,  but  as  between 
France  and  Russia  they  had  been  brought  to  an  effective 
end  by  the  alliance  of  the  nineties.  If  Great  Britain  de- 
sired to  get  support  from  these  two  ancient  rivals  of  hers, 
it  was  plain  that  she  would  have  to  give  their  ambitions 
larger  play,  and,  fully  aware  of  this  condition  of  success, 
she  opened  negotiations  first  with  France  and  then  with 
Russia. 
Creation  of  the  In  1904  Great  Britain  and  France  came  to  an  agree- 
A^reanent^'^'^^  ment  by  virtue  of  which  France,  in  return  for  conceding 
over  Egypt,        EgvTDt  to  Great  Britain,  was  given  a  free  hand  in  Morocco. 

Morocco,  and       ^.^  ,  ...  ,.  ,,  , 

Persia.  Of  course  the  treaty  did  not  use  this  crude  language  be- 

cause certain  decencies  had  to  be  observed,  owing  to  the 
circumstance  that  Egypt  belonged  technically  to  Turkey 
and  that  Morocco  was  an  independent  state  under  its 
own  Mohammedan  ruler.  The  treaty  established  what 
became  known  as  the  Franco-British  entente,  a  word  sig- 
nifying a  diplomatic  understanding  of  a  less  formal  char- 
acter than  an  uncompromising  alliance.  In  1907  Great 
Britain  composed  her  leading  difference  \^•ith  Russia  by 
a  treaty  touching  Persia,  whereby  Russia  and  Great 
Britain  assumed  control  respectively  of  northern  and 
southern  Persia  while  the  shah,  hitherto  an  independent 
sovereign,  was  left  in  doubtful  possession  of  the  reduced 


And  the  Outbreak  of  the  Great  War         555 

middle  section  of  his  ancient  kingdom.  By  these  arrange- 
ments Great  Britain,  France,  and  Russia  began  an  intimacy 
famous  under  the  name  of  the  Triple  entente.  Beginning 
with  1907,  the  alignment  of  the  sLx  great  powers  of  Europe 
took  the  form  of  Triple  entente  versus  Triple  alliance. 

From  the  moment  Great  Britain  joined  with  France  The  check- 
and  Russia,  German  imperialism  labored  under  disadvan-  Gerrnan° 
tages.  Closely  examined,  each  and  every  imperialism,  ii^penahsm. 
directed  in  accordance  with  the  actual  situation  in  the 
world  to  the  control  and  seizure  of  primarily  African  and 
Asiatic  territory,  depended  on  sea  power,  and  with  Great 
Britain  flanked  by  France  and  Russia  blocking  the  sea 
paths,  German  imperialism  was  threatened  with  paralysis. 
At  this  turn  of  affairs,  the  German  government  was  not 
slow  to  show  its  chagrin.  It  complained  in  acrimonious 
terms  about  being  hampered  and  hemined  in  by  a  policy 
of  encirclement  and  did  its  best  to  hinder  the  Triple 
entente  from  disposing  of  Egypt,  Morocco,  and  Persia 
without  consulting  Germany  or  paying  it  off  with  some 
sort  of  compensation.  Over  Morocco  more  particularly 
Germany  evoked  a  crisis  which  repeatedly  threatened 
war,  but  since  the  Triple  entente  maintained  an  unshaken 
front  Germany  had  resentfully  to  give  way  and  yield 
Morocco  to  France,  after  having  had  thrown  her  by 
the  republic  as  a  sop  a  relatively  worthless  piece  of  cen- 
tral African  jungle. 

Her  conspicuous  failures  in  distant  enterprises  made  Germany's 
Germany  cling  all  the  more  resolutely  to  the  imperialist  corfcenu"t 
policy  she  had  developed  \\  ith  regard  to  the  one  territory  on  Turkey, 
which  was  accessible  to  her  by  the  land  route,  that  is,  the 
empire  of  Turkey.     Here  her  great  military  power  might 
make  itself  felt  v.ithout  the  overwhelming  naval  power 
of  the  Triple  entente  being  able  to  thunder  a  veto.     With 
the  new  century  and  in  exact  measure  as  her  other  pros- 


556  European  Diplomatic  Relations  from  i8yi  to  igi4 

pects,  lying  farther  afield  than  the  Ottoman  empire,  began 
to  grow  dim,  Germany  concentrated  her  expansion  policy 
more  and  more  keenly  upon  Turkey. 
Ottoman  decay       All  through  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth,  centuries 
covetousness'.'^    Turkey,  as  a  decaying  power,  had  excited  the  territorial 
greed  of  the  European  states.     At  first  her  most  imme- 
diate neighbors,  Austria  and  Russia,  gained  a  rather  ex- 
clusive advantage  from  the  decline  of  the  Ottoman  might, 
but  in  the  nineteenth  century  Great  Britain  and  France 
advanced  claims  which  netted  France  the  pro\inces  of 
Algiers  and  Tunis  and  Great  Britain  the  fertile  land  of 
Egypt.  When  France,  under  circumstances  just  recounted, 
acquired    Morocco,    the    action,    though    not    directed 
against  Turkey,  since  Morocco  was  an  independent  state, 
once  more  proved  the  energy  of  her  imperialist  appetite. 
After  this  consummation  the  worthless  desert  of  Tripoli 
between  Egypt  and  Timis  stood  out  as  the  last  stretch 
of  north  African  shoreland  outside  of  European  control 
and  as  the  last  remnant  of  Turkey-in-Africa.     Unwilling 
to  see  it  gobbled  up  by  Great  Britain  or  France,  as  it 
was  likely  to  be,  Italy  in  191 1  suddenly  seized  and  an- 
nexed it  \\ith  no  better  excuse  than  Italy's  "mission." 
Like  every  other  European  power,  Italy  was  quick  to  dis- 
cover a  "mission"  when  it  came  to  appropriating  a  back- 
ward area. 
The  rise  of  the       Meanwhile  Turkey-in-Europe  showed  increasing  signs  of 
Balkan  states,    ^gjj^g  (.g^g^  for  the  same  fate  as  her  African  provinces. 
Austria  and  Russia,  which  in  the  eighteenth  century  had 
frequently  fattened  at  Ottoman  expense,  would  in  the 
nineteenth  century  have  continued  the  pleasant  game, 
if  it  had  not  been  for  the  revival  of  Turkey's  subject 
nationalities,  the  Greeks,  the  Serbs,  the  Bulgars,  and  the 
Roumanians.    We  have  traced  the  mo\'ing  tale  of  how 
they  rose,  smote  their  tyrant-master,  and  after  many 


:  ^ANZ  JOSEPE 
LAND 


o    c 

C.CMj/uttm 


.New  Siberik 


THE  WORLD  POWERS 


OF    It)  14 


IJniteil  States  |  Great  Britain 


Russia 


Germany 


France 


And  the  Outbreak  of  the  Great  War  557 

tribulations  won  their  independence.  Before  the  end  of 
the  nineteenth  century  the  states  formed  by  the  Greeks, 
Roumanians,  Serbs,  and  Bulgars  presented  the  picture  of 
hopeful,  if  somewhat  backward,  commonwealths  of  an 
essentially  west-European  type. 

Though  in  the  light  of  these  developments  the  Balkan  The  problems 
situation  was  in  slow  process  of  clarification,  several  Macedonia^" 
serious  problems  remained  which  the  European  powers 
at  the  congress  of  Berlin  (1878)  instead  of  solving,  on 
account  of  their  incurable  jealousies,  succeeded  in  involv- 
ing in  but  worse  confusion.  One  of  these  problems  bears 
the  name  of  Bosnia;  another  that  of  Macedonia.  Bosnia 
together  with  the  small  province  of  Herzego\dna,  though 
inhabited  by  South  Slavs  (Serbs  and  Croats),  was  given 
to  Austria,  not  in  sovereignty,  it  is  true,  but  for  an  indefi- 
nite occupation  capable  of  being  converted,  sooner  or  later, 
by  the  legerdemain,  which  was  included  in  the  repertory 
of  every  European  foreign  office,  into  unqualified  sov- 
ereignty. At  the  same  time  Macedonia,  the  great  central 
region  of  the  Balkan  peninsula  where  all  its  many  races 
meet  and  mingle,  was  given  back  to  the  sultan.  For  the 
moment  the  two  ill-considered  actions,  involving  a  flagrant 
disregard  of  the  principle  of  nationaUty,  provoked  but 
httle  protest.  In  the  long  run,  however,  they  were  sure  to 
cause  difficulty:  Bosnia,  as  between  Austria  and  Serbia, 
which  latter  v.'ould  lay  claim  to  Bosnia  on  the  ground  of 
its  being  a  land  of  Serbs;  and  Macedonia,  as  between 
Turkey  and  the  various  Christian  states  of  the  peninsula, 
which  would  be  stirred  to  liberate  Macedonia  from  Turkish 
misrule  and  divide  it  among  themselves. 

Around    the   year    1900    the    uninterrupted    decay   of  The  great  and 
Turkey  more   than   ever  impressed  observers  with   the  po^^^s^gtake 
conviction  that  the  Ottoman  empire  was  about  to  dis-  out  Turkish 

cluims. 

appear.    And  just  as  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Italy 


558  European  Diplomatic  Relations  from  iSyi  to  igi^ 

either  had  already  taken  or  were  about  to  take  action  to 
possess  themselves  of  the  north  coast  of  Africa,  so  Austria- 
Hungary  and  Russia  among  the  great  powers,  and  Greece, 
Roumania,  Serbia,  and  Bulgaria  among  the  small,  were 
on  the  alert  to  make,  each  for  itself,  the  best  possible 
bargain  touching  European  Turkey  in  the  event  of  the 
expected  Ottoman  demise.  While  the  small  powers 
directed  their  gaze  at  Macedonia  and  the  contiguous  ter- 
ritory of  Thrace,  Austria  counted  confidently  on  convert- 
ing her  provisional  hold  on  Bosnia  into  permanent  sov- 
ereignty and  Russia  turned  a  glazed  and  hypnotized  eye 
on  Constantinople  and  the  adjoining  straits.  Ever  since 
the  days  of  the  famous  Catherine  II.  Constantinople 
had  been  the  dream  of  the  czars  and  each  successor  of 
Catherine  aflarmed  his  belief  that  when  the  collapse  of 
Turkey  at  last  occurred  the  Russian  imperial  standard 
would  be  planted  on  the  Constantinopolitan  minarets. 
The  German  Into  this  welter  of  projects  excited  by  Ottoman  decay, 

all  of  them,  of  course,  in  fluid  state  because  of  the  uncer- 
tainties of  the  situation,  Germany  now  plunged  vdih.  a 
project  of  her  o\mi.  Since  e\^ery  one  was  making  sure  of 
some  part  of  the  Sultan's  lands  when  the  day  of  di\-ision 
came,  Germany  undertook  to  stake  out  a  claim  in  Asia 
Minor,  v.'hich  she  looked  upon  as  reasonably  accessible 
to  a  land-power  Hke  herself.  Asia  ISIinor,  almost  incred- 
ibly backvv-ard  because  of  Turk  neglect  and  ignorance, 
had  very  luring  potentiahties  from  a  colonial  \de\\point. 
By  means  of  concessions  from  the  Turkish  government 
German  capitalists  gradually  built  up  special  interests 
there;  they  developed,  among  other  matters,  a  railroad 
poUcy  planned  to  connect  the  interior  of  Asia  Minor  with 
Constantinople  and  the  sea;  and,  finally,  they  acquired 
the  famous  charter  permitting  the  extension  of  the  exist- 
ing railway  system  through  and  beyond  Asia  Minor  to  the 


stake 


And  the  Outbreak  of  the  Great  War         559 

city  of  Bagdad  on  the  Tigris  (1899-1903).  Only  then  did  The  Bagdad 
Germany's  designs  become  fully  manifest.  If  they  worked  '^^'  ^^^' 
out  Germany  would  presently  exercise  control  over  the 
transportation  system  and  therewith  over  the  resources 
of  Asia  Minor  and  would,  without  more  ado,  walk  into 
complete  possession  when  Turkey's  knell  was  at  last 
sounded. 

The  prospect  produced  a  tremendous  commotion  in  the  Growing 
camp  of  the  Triple  entente,  particularly  at  London  and  oflmperfalis" 
Petrograd.  As  London  saw  the  situation  Germany,  once  rivalries  at 
at  Bagdad,  would  only  have  to  run  her  railway  line  to  nople. 
the  Persian  Gulf  to  possess  at  some  future  date  a  land- 
route  from  central  Europe  to  the  Orient  considerably 
shorter  than  the  water-route  \'ia  the  Suez  Canal  con- 
trolled by  Great  Britain.  In  the  eyes  of  Petrograd,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  evil  of  a  trunk  line  under  German 
management  lay  rather  in  its  giving  Germany  control  of 
the  Turk  capital,  thereby  proving  absolutely  fatal  to  the 
ancient  hopes  entertained  by  Russia  touching  Constan- 
tinople and  the  straits.  Protests,  claims,  and  counter- 
claims filled  the  columns  of  the  press  and  echoed  through 
the  halls  of  the  European  parliaments.  Though  the  rival 
European  imperialisms  were  clashing  at  many  points, 
they  met  at  Constantinople,  in  connection  with  the  Bag- 
dad railway  project,  with  greater  vehemence  than  any- 
where else,  because  the  Bagdad  project,  if  realized,  would 
extend  German  power  in  a  manner  perilous  to  every 
member  of  the  entente. 

In    spite   of    the   diplomatic   defeats   administered   to   German  plans 
Germany  by  the  entente  in  connection  with  Morocco  and   supported  by 

.      \^  .  Turkey  but 

Persia,  the  German  government  persisted  m  the  Bagdad   threatened  by 
scheme,  making  steady  headway  with  the  construction  of     ^^  '^' 
the  line  in  the  years  following  1903.    While  the  entente  was 
resolute  that  the  invaluable  railway  must  not  be  monopo- 


560  European  Diplomatic  Relations  from  iSyi  to  igi4 

lized  by  Germany,  it  could  for  the  moment  apply  no  con- 
venient lever  to  the  situation,  especially  as  Turkey  at- 
tached herself  so  closely  to  Germany  that  she  was  soon 
no  better  than  Germany's  subservient  tool.  Then  a  faint 
possibility,  hardly  considered  at  first,  dawned  in  Serbia. 
Through  this  little  state  ran  the  railroad  which  linked 
Berlin  and  Vienna  with  Constantinople  and  of  which  the 
projected  Bagdad  line  was  in  effect  nothing  more  than 
the  Asiatic  extension.  Midway  on  the  stretch  between 
Vienna  and  the  Golden  Horn  lay  Belgrad,  the  capital  of 
Serbia,  and,  what  is  more,  the  natural  door  into  the  Balkan 
house  from  central  Europe.  A  hostile  Belgrad  might  con- 
ceivably become  an  insuperable  obstacle  to  the  south- 
eastward advance  of  Germany  and  her  ally,  Austria. 
Now  Serbia,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been  made  bitterly 
hostile  to  Austria  because  Austria  had  occupied  Bosnia, 
to  which  Serbia  on  nationalist  grounds  laid  claim.  Serbia, 
therefore,  exercised  a  potential  check  on  the  Austro- 
German  plans  of  eastern  penetration  and,  properly  en- 
couraged by  Russia  and  the  other  members  of  the  entente, 
might  prove  a  considerable  nuisance.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances little  Serbia  was  lifted  to  an  accidental  and 
dizzy  eminence,  becoming  a  leading  center  of  European 
intrigue  where  Triple  alliance  and  Triple  entente  fought 
a  bitter  diplomatic  battle  over  the  absorbing  issue  of 
Balkan  ascendency. 
The  Austro-  Suddenly,  in  1908,  came  a  crisis  which  brought  war 

1908."*^'^  "  knocking  at  the  door  of  Europe.  In  order  to  put  an  end 
to  all  further  debate  as  to  her  relations  to  Bosnia,  Austria, 
in  October  of  that  year,  issued  a  proclamation  converting 
her  occupation  of  Bosnia,  conceded  at  the  Congress  of 
Beriin,  into  formal  sovereignty.  Serbia,  backed  by  the 
entente,  violently  protested  against  this  high-handed  as- 
sumption of  new  rights,  and  on  Germany's  supporting 


And  the  Outbreak  of  tlie  Great  War  561 

Austria  the  strain  became  terrible.  War  hung  on  a  thread 
and  was  only  averted  by  the  entente's  gradually  with- 
drawing its  support  from  Serbia.  The  last  entente  power  to 
yield  was  Russia,  which  finally  in  March,  1909,  notified  the 
Serb  government  not  to  expect  any  help  in  an  eventual 
war  with  the  Danubian  monarchy.  Serbia,  isolated,  was 
obliged  to  promise  Austria  to  discontinue  her  protest 
about  Bosnia,  and  the  first  Austro-Serb  crisis,  properly 
a  general  Balkan  crisis  involving  all  the  varied  Near-East 
interests  of  the  two  rival  leagues,  came  to  an  end — a  very 
provisional  end — \^'ith  an  Austro-Germian  xdctory. 

And  now  crisis  followed  on  the  heel  of  crisis  in  that  Steady 
simmering  witch's  kettle  of  the  Balkans.  Space  forbids  Balkan  crisfs. 
us  to  do  more  than  mention  the  Young  Turk  revolution 
(1908),  which  deposed  the  Sultan  Abdul  Hamid  II.,  and 
the  Albanian  rising  (19 10),  which  proclaimed  the  awaken- 
ing of  the  last  of  the  submerged  Balkan  nationalities. 
Aiming  to  concentrate  on  the  absolutely  indispensable 
events,  we  shall  follow  the  issue  precipitated  by  the  cruel 
situation  of  Macedonia  until  the  Austro-Serb  crisis  of 
1908,  supposedly  settled,  rose,  like  Banquo's  ghost,  from 
the  grave,  and  this  time  applied  the  torch  to  Europe 
and  to  the  world. 

The  misery  which  with  the  coming  of  the  new  century  The  Balkan 
overtook  the  Turkish  pro\'ince  of  Macedonia  beggars  de-  ^^"""^  ^^"• 
scription.  Its  many  racial  groups,  moved  by  the  spirit 
of  militant  nationalism,  engaged  in  bloody  internecine 
war,  which  the  Ottoman  overlords,  owing  to  their  habitual 
inefficiency,  were  unable  to  suppress.  Small  wonder  that 
the  Christian  states  bordering  on  Macedonia  at  last  re- 
solved, in  their  own  interest,  to  bring  the  Macedonian 
chaos  to  an  end.  Forming  an  alliance,  Bulgaria,  Serbia, 
Greece,  and  Montenegro,  impatient  of  further  delay,  in 
October,  191 2,  declared  war  on  the  Sultan.    ,Taken  by 


562  European  Diplomatic  Relations  from  iSyi  to  igi4 

surprise  and  completely  defeated  on  every  front,  the  Turks 
were  in  May,  1913,  obliged  to  sue  for  peace.  The  jubi- 
lant victors  demanded  the  cession  not  only  of  the  dis- 
puted Macedonia  but  also  of  Thrace  to  within  a  few  miles 
of  Constantinople.  Except  for  the  capital  and  the  all- 
important  area  of  the  straits,  Turkey-in-Europe  had  come 
to  an  end. 
The  second  It  might  have  been  better  if  the  allied  success  had  not 

Bdkan  war  of  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^^^  ^^iQ  extensive  Turkish  spoils  the 

intoxicated  victors  promptly  came  to  blows.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1 9 13  a  second  Balkan  war  was  fought  in  which 
Greece,  Serbia,  and  Montenegro  were  pitted  against  Bul- 
garia, and  though  powerful  enough  by  themselves  to  finish 
the  enemy,  they  were  supported  by  Roumania  and  even 
received  aid  of  an  indirect  nature  from  their  late  enemy, 
Turkey.  Of  course  Bulgaria  was  swiftly  overwhelmed, 
and  when  in  August,  1913,  peace  was  signed  at  Bucharest 
and  the  booty  distributed,  the  victors  took  what  they 
pleased,  leaving  Bulgaria  completely  out  of  the  reckoning. 
More  particularly  Macedonia,  racially  indeed  a  mixed 
area  but  preponderantly  Bulgarian,  was  partitioned  be- 
tween Serbia  and  Greece.  Everything  considered,  the 
two  Balkan  wars  had  wrought  a  distinct  benefit  in  so  far 
as  they  had  effected  the  elimination  of  the  barbarous 
Turk  from  the  lands  in  which  he  was  essentially  an  alien 
and  which  for  generations  he  had  exploited  and  misgov- 
erned; but  unfortunately  they  left  also  a  heritage  of 
hate  among  the  Christian  powers  because  the  victors,  like 
victors  from  the  dawn  of  time,  could  not  refrain  in  their 
hour  of  triumph  from  punishing  the  vanquished  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  leave  a  gnawing  resentment  in  his  soul. 
The  renewed  It  was  the  curse  of  the  Balkan  situation  that  though 
fdsfs'ofi"i4.  disturbance  followed  disturbance  nothing  was  ever  set- 
tled.   The  Serb  crisis  of  1908,  for  instance— was  it  pos- 


And  the  Outbreak  of  the  Great  War         563 

sible  to  speak  of  its  s^lttlement  so  long  as  the  Serb  nation- 
alist aspirations  turned  longingly  toward  the  neic;hboring 
province  of  Bosnia,  and  Belgrad,  the  capital,  continued 
a  focus  of  international  intrigue?  Big  Austria  and  little 
Serbia  continued  to  exchange  bitter  looks  and  words 
which  gained,  if  anything,  an  added  malignancy  after 
Serbia's  triumph  in  the  Balkan  wars  of  191 2  and  1913. 
Having  in  rapid  succession  defeated  the  Turks  and  the 
Bulgarians  and  having  doubled  their  territory,  the  Serbs 
were  in  no  mood  to  be  cowed  by  Austrian  threats.  With 
so  much  inflammable  material  lying  about,  any  chance 
occurrence  might  well  precipitate  an  explosion.  Sud- 
denly on  June  28,  1914,  the  news  went  round  the  world 
that  a  number  of  Bosnian  youths,  carried  away  by  the 
Serb  nationalist  agitation,  had  murdered  the  heir  to  the 
Austrian  throne,  the  archduke  Francis  Ferdinand,  to- 
gether with  his  wife,  as  they  were  driving  through  the 
streets  of  Sarajevo,  the  capital  of  Bosnia.  Here  was  the 
Serb  crisis  back  again  and  alarmed  Europe,  expecting  the 
worst,  straightway  went  taut  with  anxiety. 

This  time  Austria  resolved  on  nothing  less  than  the  The  Austrian 
complete  humiliation  of  Serbia.    On  July  23,  1914,  the  sl'r'biaSowed 
Viennese  government  presented  a  peremptory  ultimatum  ^^  '^'^^■ 
at  Belgrad  intended  to  crush  Serb  nationalist  agitation 
once  and  for  all.     On  Serbia's  refusing  to  meet  the  Aus- 
trian demands  without  reservation  or  discussion,  Austria, 
on  July  25,  broke  off  diplomatic  relations  with  Serbia 
and  three  days  later  declared  war  on  its  little  neighbor. 

The  Austrian  programme  being  to  punish  Serbia  for  a  Russia  resolves 
nationalist  policy  which  made  relations  of  good  neighbor-  serWa^and 
hood  impossible,  it  behooved  the  Austrian  government  to  partially 

mobilizes. 

attempt  to  make  this  policy  acceptable  to  the  world  and 
particularly  to  the  members  of  the  Triple  entente,  Serbia's 
ofiicial   spokesmen.     To  promote   this   purpose  Austria 


564  European  Diplomatic  Relations  from  1871  to  igi4 

issued  a  promise  to  the  effect  that  no  territorial  acquisi- 
tions from  Serbia  were  contemplated.    But  Russia,  which, 
as  the  leading  Slav  power,  felt  closest  to  Serbia  and  which 
moreover  had  enormous  interests  at  stake  in  the  Balkans, 
refused  to  be  placated  by  the  Austrian  territorial  assur- 
ance.    Russia  took  the  position  that  she  could  not  possibly 
remain  indifferent  in  a  war  between  Austria  and  Serbia, 
and  as  early  as  July  25  ordered  a  partial  mobilization  of 
her  troops.     With  that  bold  act  the  Serb  crisis  entered 
upon  a  new  phase,  raising  the  question  of  a  war  among 
the  powers.    And  immediately  the  interest  shifted  to  the 
leading  European  chancelleries  and  particularly  to  Berhn. 
The  question         Throughout  the  crisis  precipitated  by  the  murder  of 
mobmzadon       the  archduke  Germany  gave  her  ally's  policy  a  full  and 
raised  between  unwavering  support  because  she,  perhaps  even  more  than 
Russia.  Austria,  felt  exasperated  with  Serbia,  which  by  the  head- 

strong pursuit  of  her  nationalist  programme  reared  a  fatal 
obstacle  across  the  German  road  to  the  Near-East.  She 
therefore  voluntarily  took  upon  herself  the  task  of  try- 
ing to  persuade  Russia  to  concede  to  Austria  a  punitive 
expedition  into  Serbia  in  exchange  for  the  Austrian  pledge 
not  to  annex  Serbian  territory.  Russia,  alarmed  about 
Serbia  and  her  own  probable  loss  of  prestige  in  the  Balkans, 
refused  to  entertain  the  idea  and,  as  already  said,  on 
July  25,  took  the  decisive  step  of  effecting  a  partial 
mobilization  of  her  forces.  From  that  moment  Germany 
turned  her  attention  to  the  new  phenomenon.  She  noti- 
fied Russia  that  if  the  mobilization  continued,  Austria, 
which  had  thus  far  mobilized  only  on  the  Serbian  border, 
would  have  to  arm  to  meet  the  Russian  movement,  and, 
further,  that  if  the  Russian  mobilization  became  general, 
extending  to  the  German  border,  Germany  in  her  turn 
would  have  to  issue  a  general  mobilization  order,  making 
war  inevitable. 


And  the  Outbreak  of  the  Great  War         565 
In  this  connection  it  should  be  remembered  that  under  The  Russian 

,  .     .        _,  .         .  ,        ...  mobilization  of 

the  existmg  European  system  of  universal  mihtary  serv-  juiy  30  foi- 
ice  a  general  mobilization  empties  the  fields  and  work-  q^^^^I^^'  '^*^ 
shops,  converts  millions  of  men  in  the  twinkling  of  an  declaration  of 
eye  into  soldiers,  and  sets  the  whole  social  and  economic  August  i. 
framework  of  a  nation  throbbing  with  war.    In  spite  of  the 
German  warnings,  the  czar,  assured  of  French  support  and 
of  the  probable  support  of  Great  Britain,  continued  a  pro- 
gressive mobilization  which  culminated  in  the  early  even- 
ing hours  of  July  30  in  the  fateful  general  order  calling 
every  eligible  Russian  to  arms  throughout  the  length  and 
the  breadth  of  the  empire.     On  this  action  being  reported 
at  Berlin,  the  German  Government  despatched  an  ulti- 
matum to  Petrograd  setting  Russia  a  time  limit  of  twelve 
hours  to  withdraw  her  measure.     When  Russia  ignored 
the  request,  the  German  emperor,  in  the  late  afternoon  of 
August  I,  ordered  general  mobilization  in  his  turn  and  at 
the  same  time  declared  war  on  Russia. 

It  is  thus  clear  that  the  European  War  began  over  the  While  France 
clashing  Austro-German  and  Russian  imperialist  designs  automatically 
in  the  Near-East  and  particularly  over  the  Austro-German  heskates"^^'" 
resolve  to  remove  the  stubborn  resistance  of  little  Serbia 
from  the  otherwise  unimpeded  road  to  Asia.  But  war 
once  begun,  it  was  sure,  owing  to  the  treaty  obligations, 
as  well  as  to  the  interests  of  the  various  powers,  to  rapidly 
extend  its  circle.  On  France,  for  instance,  the  effect  of 
the  Russian-German  breach  was  instantaneous,  for  France 
was  so  closely  bound  to  Russia  that  she  could  not  do  other- 
wise than  interpret  the  Russian  general  mobilization  as  the 
signal  for  the  expected  general  war.  The  case  of  Great 
Britain  was  not  quite  so  simple.  Toward  Russia  the  British 
government  had  only  informal  obligations,  while,  though 
bound  in  a  formal,  specific  way  toward  France,  it  had  kept 
the  agreement  secret  and  was  nervously  uncertain  whether 


566  European  Diplomatic  Relations  from  iSji  to  IQ14 


The  German 
breach  of 
Belgian 
neutrality  fol- 
lowed by  the 
declaration  of 
war  of  Great 
Britain. 


While  Italy 
proclaims  her 
neutrality, 
Japan  declares 
war  on 
Germany. 


the  parliament  and  public  would  permit  it  to  live  up  to 
its  self-assumed  obligation. 

From  this  embarrassing  situation,  which,  to  the  alarm 
of  Russia  and  France,  kept  Great  Britain  hanging  fire, 
the  British  cabinet  was  extricated  by  an  ill-considered 
and  indefensible  act  of  Germany,  the  violation  of  the 
neutrality  of  Belgium.  In  her  desire  to  get  at  France 
without  delay  Germ.any,  on  August  2,  requested  at  Brus- 
sels an  unmolested  passage  for  her  troops  through  Bel- 
gium, and  when  the  demand  was  indignantly  rejected, 
Germany,  on  August  4,  committed  an  unprovoked  act  of 
war  against  Belgium  by  sending  troops  across  the 
border.  As  soon  as  the  violation  of  Belgian  neutrality 
became  known  across  the  channel,  it  released  a  storm 
of  furious  resentment,  and  the  ministry,  only  privately 
pledged  to  come  to  the  aid  of  France,  was  enabled  to 
merge  the  French  and  Belgian  issues  before  the  par- 
liament and  public  and  amidst  the  passionate  acclaim 
of  the  whole  island  to  declare  war  on  Germany  (Au- 
gust 5). 

The  feverish  attention  of  the  world  now  swung  to  Italy. 
As  a  member  of  the  Triple  alliance  she  was  expected  in 
some  quarters  to  throw  in  her  lot  with  Germany  and 
Austria,  but  after  brief  consideration  she  declared  that 
Austria  had  begun  an  offensive  war  which  released  Italy, 
only  defensively  bound,  from  the  obligation  of  coming  to 
her  ally's  support.  For  the  present  she  adopted  a  waiting 
attitude.  Not  so  Japan.  Bound  by  treaty  to  Great 
Britain,  she  resolved  to  seize  the  opportunity  afforded 
by  the  embarrassment  of  Germany  of  ejecting  the  Teu- 
tonic power  from  her  Far-Eastern  possessions  on  the 
Shantung  peninsula  in  China  and  on  August  17  served 
an  ultimatum  on  the  German  emperor  followed  shortly 
after  by  a  declaration  of  war. 


And  ike  Outbreak  of  the  Great  War         567 

Thus  the  Balkan  issue,  with  which  the  war  began,  was  Every 
found  to  be  so  intimately  tied  up  with  every  other  issue  j^urthrown 
of  European  imperialism,  and  the  competing  powers,  'JJble^of  the ' 
sharply  ranged  in  two  groups,  Ave  re  found  to  be  so  deeply  World  \\'ar. 
pledged  to  one  another  that  the  Serb-Austrian  disturb- 
ance, affecting  a  comparatively  small  area  in  central 
Europe,  became  in  the  course  of  a  few  days  a  conflagra- 
tion which  spread  until  the  whole  of  Europe,  the  depend- 
ent colonial  areas  of  Africa  and  Asia,  and  all  the  high- 
ways of  the  sea  were  lighted  with  the  fierce  glare  of  war. 
Germany  and  Austria  faced  Russia,  France,  Great  Britain, 
and  Japan  (not  to  mention  Serbia  and  Belgium),  while 
Italy,  neutral  for  the  moment,  anxiously  tried  to  make 
up  her  mind  which  way  to  jump.  Never  since  the  dawn 
of  history  had  the  world  rocked  with  such  an  earthquake. 
The  human  rancors,  piled  mountain-high  by  the  too  ardent 
pursuit  ever  since  the  industrial  revolution  of  selfish  ma- 
terial and  imperialist  aims,  suddenly  leaping  to  flame 
enveloped  the  globe  with  a  ring  of  fire  and  raised  the 
question  whether  the  appalling  spectacle  unfolded  before 
the  eyes  of  men  was  not  the  end  of  civilization  itself  and 
the  twilight  of  all  the  ancient  gods. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

THE  WAR  AND  THE  PEACE 

References:  Schapiro,  Modern  and  Contemporary 
European  History,  Chapter  XXX.;  Olgin,  The 
Soul  of  the  Russian  Revolution;  C.  de  Visscher, 
Belgium's  Case;  Toynbee,  Nationality  and  the 
War;  Dominian,  The  Frontiers  of  Nationality  and 
Language  in  Europe;  Simonds,  The  Great  War; 
C.  J.  H.  Hayes,  A  Brief  History  of  the  Great  War; 
Haskins  and  Lord,  Some  Problems  of  the  Peace 
Conference;  J.  M.  Keynes,  The  Economic  Conse- 
quences of  the  Peace;  A.  P.  Scott,  An  Introduc- 
tion to  the  Peace  Treaties;  John  F.  Bass,  The 
Peace  Tangle;  R.  Lansing,  The  Peace  Negotia- 
tions; A.  Tardieu,  The  Truth  about  the  Treaty. 

Limited  pur-  I^  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  it  will  be  impossible 

pose  of  this        [^  ^  book  of  this  scope  to  do  more  than  call  attention  to 

cii3.iDtcr 

a  few  leading  facts  and  aspects  of  the  World  War.  Im- 
portant matters  of  great  and  legitimate  concern  will  have 
to  be  resolutely  excluded  from  consideration.  There  will 
be  no  description  either  of  the  instruments  which  have 
revolutionized  warfare  on  land  and  water,  the  giant  gun, 
the  scouting  and  bombing  airplane,  the  trench-bomb,  the 
tank,  poison  gas,  the  submarine,  or  of  the  altered  tactics 
and  strategy  imposed  upon  generals  and  admirals  by  the 
new  tools  of  destruction.  Attention  will  not  be  directed 
to  the  outstanding  personalities  of  the  various  nations, 
the  conspicuous  and  fast-shifting  leaders  in  the  field  and 

568 


The  War  and  the  Peace  569 

council-chamber,  nor  to  the  heated  domestic  politics  of 
each  warring  nation,  including  such  matters  as  its  pro  and 
anti-war  groups,  the  search  for  revenue  to  meet  the  vastly 
increased  expenses,  and  the  measures  of  economic  reorgan- 
ization for  war  production  on  a  titanic  scale.  Our  concern 
will  be  solely  to  set  down  a  few  salient  features  of  the 
prolonged  fighting,  notably  such  as  profoundly  influenced 
the  issue,  and  to  define  and  interpret  the  peace  which  the 
victors  dictated  to  the  defeated  central  powers. 

When  Germany  broke  the  neutrality  of  Belgium,  in   The  purpose  of 
spite  not  only  of  the  certainty  of  adding  Great  Britain  to  striking  at" 
her  enemies  but  also  of  the  opprobrium  which  she  knew  France  through 

'  '-^  JDeigium. 

beforehand  would  be  visited  upon  her  for  her  act,  she  dis- 
closed the  extreme  importance  she  attached  to  the  swift 
defeat  of  France.  France  once  disposed  of,  Germany 
would  turn  upon  Russia,  which  country,  owing  to  its  un- 
wieldy bulk,  the  German  general  staff  supposed  would  get 
ready  slowly  and  not  prove  immediately  threatening. 
There  followed  the  rapid  march  of  August,  1914,  through 
Belgium  and  northern  France.  It  was  bravely  resisted 
by  the  small  Belgian  army  and  the  forts  along  the  Meuse, 
aided  by  the  English  and  French  troops  hurrying  up  to 
stem  the  tide,  but,  conducted  with  superior  numbers  and 
equipment,  it  broke  for  a  while  through  every  obstacle. 
Not  till  the  Germans  were  almost  within  sight  of  Paris, 
their  military  objective,  were  they  stopped  by  a  direct 
frontal  attack  combined  with  a  flanking  movement  which 
threatened  to  envelop  their  right  wing.  The  battle, 
lasting  several  days  (September  5-10),  is  famous  as  the 
battle  of  the  Marne.  The  Germans,  beaten,  had  to  re- 
treat to  the  Aisne,  where  they  entrenched.  They  had 
failed  to  reach  Paris  and  failed  to  win  a  smashing  \ictory 
over  France.  Therefore  they  had  lost  the  campaign,  and 
though  by  way  of  compensation  they  succeeded  in  oc- 


5  JO  The  War  and  the  Peace 


cup}ing  and  holding  almost  the  whole  of  Belgium  and 
certain  ver\-  valuable  coal  and  iron-producing  regions  of 
northern  and  eastern  France,  they  were  thenceforth 
gravely  exposed  whenever  their  enemies  became  strong 
enough  to  attack  in  their  turn. 
The  deadlock  This  theoretic  peril  of  the  Germans,  due  to  the  long 
ra  die  western  j^^  ^^  communications  which  they  were  obliged  to  main- 
tain, was  in  practice  greatly  reduced  for  them  by  their 
resort  to  trench  warfare,  the  so-called  war  of  positions. 
Adopted  by  one  side,  it  had,  for  the  sake  of  safety,  to  be 
adopted  also  by  the  other.  Both  sides  dug  themselves  in, 
forming  an  immense  zigzagging  battle-line  stretching  for 
sis  hundred  miles  aU  the  way  from  the  sea  at  Xieuport 
(Belgium)  to  the  Alps  on  the  German-Swiss  border. 
During  the  next  few  years  first  one  side  and  then  another 
undertook  an  offensive  with  the  purpose  of  breaking 
through,  and  though  some  of  these  attacks  were  conducted 
on  a  vast  scale,  as,  for  instance,  when  in  the  spring  of  1916 
the  Germans  tried  to  break  through  at  \'erdun  or  when 
in  the  simimer  of  the  same  year  the  British  and  French 
conducted  the  campaign  of  the  Somme,  the  battle-front, 
generally  speaking,  remained  unchanged  until  March, 
191 8.  For  almost  four  years  the  situation  on  the  western 
and  decisive  front  was  deadlocked. 
The  Russian  Just  as  the  German  supreme  command  had  miscal- 

SSSy°Ld     culated  the  resistance  of  the  combined  French,  British, 
Austria-  ^j^^j  Belgian  armies,  so  it  indulged  in  a  wrong  assumption 

as  to  the  mobilization  of  Russia.  The  rush  toward  France 
was,  as  we  have  seen,  predicated  on  the  slow  movement  of 
the  Russian  army.  The  Russian  army,  however,  con- 
ducted its  mobilization  not  only  rapidly  but  with  enor- 
mous effectives  and  undertook,  while  the  German  army  was 
sweeping  on  to  Paris,  to  drive  across  the  plains  of  the 
Vistula  and  the  Oder  to  Vienna  and  Berlin.    The  German 


The  War  and  the  Peace  571 

forces  were  driven  from  most  of  East  Prussia,  the  Aus- 
trians  from  eastern  Galicia  before  a  German  counter- 
attack at  Tannenburg  (August  26-September  i)  turned 
the  Russian  advance  to  a  disastrous  rout.  Hindenburg, 
the  German  commander,  followed  up  his  victory  by 
crossing  the  Russian  boundary  and  invading  Poland  and 
Lithuania. 

The  Austrians,  however,  in  their  sector  had  no  such  The  Russian 
luck  as  the  Germans  and  continued  to  give  way  until  the 
Russians  threatened  the  forts  of  Cracow  and  extended  an 
indirect  menace  to  Vienna  itself.  Thus  matters  stood  till 
May,  191 5,  when  the  Austro-Germans  combined  in  a  vast 
offensive  which  pushed  back  the  Russians  at  every  point 
and  ended  in  their  complete  defeat.  Not  only  did  the 
central  powers  now  drive  far  into  Russia  but  they  suc- 
ceeded in  so  severely  crippling  the  Russian  equipment  by 
the  destruction  and  capture  of  material  that  the  great 
Slav  empire  began  to  show  signs  of  approaching  exhaus- 
tion. True,  it  manifested  fine  daring  by  engaging,  in  the 
summer  of  1916,  in  a  partially  successful  offensive  against 
Austria  conducted  by  General  Brusiloff,  but  thereafter 
the  army  showed  little  fight,  partly  through  discourage- 
ment and  partly  because  of  the  civil  break-up  behind  the 
battle-line  which  is  the  usual  accompaniment  of  defeat. 

The  war  had  in  the  first  instance  led  to  a  great  out-  The  Russian 
burst  of  patriotism  and  unified  Russia  as  it  unified,  through   ig^y'^oUowed 
the  same  patriotic  sentiment,  every  other  fighting  coun-  ^  p^^'^^  ^'^'^ 
try.     But  the  old  social  and  political  divisions  continued 
to  stir  uneasily  under  the  surface,  and  when  the  Russian 
defeats  took  place  the  angered  pubUc  laid  the  blame  on 
the    well-known    incompetence    and    corruption    of    the 
czarist  regime.    In  March,  191 7,  an  uprising  took  place  in 
Petrograd  which  immediately  gathered  such  momentum 
among  both  civilians  and  soldiers  that  the  czar,  deserted 


572  The  War  and  the  Peace 

by  his  people,  was  obliged  to  abdicate.  What  next? 
The  absolute  system  had  crashed  to  the  ground:  would  a 
moderate  middle-class  or  a  radical  socialist  regime  suc- 
ceed it?  The  first  result  was  a  compromise,  certain  middle- 
class  groups  cooperating  with  a  moderate  wing  of  the 
socialists  and  conducting  a  government  pledged  to  the 
allies  and  resolved  to  keep  Russia  in  the  war  against 
Germany.  Through  the  summer  of  191 7  this  government, 
becoming  ever  more  radical,  struggled  on  only  to  meet 
defeat  in  the  end  at  the  hands  of  the  extreme  socialists, 
known  as  the  Bolsheviki.  In  November  these  extremists 
set  up  their  uncompromising  revolutionary  rule.  From 
the  point  of  view  of  the  war,  which  alone  concerns  us  here, 
the  enormous  significance  of  the  triumph  of  Lenin  and 
Trotsky,  the  Bolshevik  leaders,  was  that  they  resolved  to 
take  Russia  out  of  the  struggle  by  making  peace  with 
Germany.  This  peace  Germany,  a  victorious,  militarist 
power,  ruthlessly  imposed  on  the  beaten  enemy  at  Brest- 
Litovsk  in  March,  1918.  By  \drtue  of  this  treaty  Russia 
renounced  title  to  the  vast  western  borderland,  including 
Finland,  the  Baltic  provinces  (Esthonia,  Livonia,  Cour- 
land),  Lithuania,  Poland,  and  Ukraine,  all  conquered  by 
.  her  since  the  days  of  Peter  the  Great  and  inhabited  by  a 
great  variety  of  races  but  in  no  case  by  Russians,  except 
in  scattered  groups  which  had  gradually  drifted  westward 
from  the  Russian  home-land. 
Interdepend-  An  obvious  drawback  of  the  method  here  adopted  of 

fighdng^fronts.  treating  each  battie-front  in  turn  is  that  it  fails  to  bring 
out  the  intimate  coherence  of  events  in  the  east  and  west. 
The  campaigns  on  these  two  fronts  and  on  all  fronts  what- 
ever should,  especially  if  military  enlightenment  is  sought, 
be  studied  as  a  unit.  Fighting  in  the  east  constantly  af- 
fected the  situation  in  the  west  and  vice  versa,  as  will 
appear  by  glancing  back  once  more,  for  the  purpose  of 


The  War  and  the  Peace  573 


illustration,  to  1914.  The  Franco-British  forces  won  the 
decisive  battle  of  the  Marne,  but  this  victory  was  due,  in 
part  at  least,  to  the  unexpected  invasion  by  Russia  of  East 
Prussia  and  to  the  consequent  diversion  by  Germany  of 
troops,  destined  for  the  west  front,  to  her  eastern  marches. 

This    intimate    concatenation    of    happenings    in    all  The  Balkan 
quarters  should  be  borne  in  mind  as  we  turn  next  to  trace  Iffe^cteTby  ^the 
the  course  of  events  on  the  Balkan  front.     The  war,  f "trance  into 

'    the  war  of 

though  beginning  in  the  Balkans  as  a  conflict  between  Turkey. 
Austria  and  Serbia,  assumed  so  overshadowing  an  im- 
portance on  the  west  and  east  fronts,  where  millions  of 
men  were  under  arms,  that  the  Balkan  front  where  Aus- 
tria, because  of  having  her  hands  full  with  Russia,  made 
but  a  feeble  effort,  sank  into  relative  insignificance.  But 
not  for  long.  Early  in  November,  19 14,  the  central 
powers  were  greatly  strengthened  in  their  struggle  by 
being  joined  by  Turkey.  Turkey's  entrance  into  the  war, 
due  to  the  friendship  existing  between  the  Young  Turks, 
the  political  masters  of  the  Ottoman  empire,  and  Germany, 
profoundly  affected  the  situation  in  the  Balkans  and  for 
that  matter  in  large  areas  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea  and 
the  whole  Near-East.  Russia,  in  particular,  was  hard 
hit,  for  the  Bosphorus  and  Dardanelles  were  immediately 
closed  to  the  ships  of  the  entente,  with  the  result  that 
Russia  was  unable  to  receive  the  military  supplies  of  which 
she  stood  in  need.  Her  defeat  in  the  campaign  of  1915 
was  partly  due  to  this  circumstance,  once  more  exhibiting 
the  close  interdependence  of  events  on  every  fighting  front. 
It  was  to  break  the  intolerable  barrier  at  the  straits  and 
establish  the  sorely  needed  contact  with  Russia  that  the 
western  powers  undertook  their  first  Balkan  campaign. 

In  February,  191 5,  a  Franco-British  squadron  suddenly  The  Galhpoli 
attacked  the  Dardanelles  with  the  purpose  of  silencing  ramp^-Tigns "f 
the  Turkish  forts  and  forcing  a  passage  to  Constantinople,   '9'5.  - 


574  The  War  and  the  Peace 

On  losing  in  this  hazardous  enterprise  several  large  battle- 
ships, the  allies  changed  their  plans  and  began  to  land 
troops,  British  for  the  most  part,  on  the  Gallipoli  penin- 
sula, with  the  object  of  taking  the  forts  from  the  rear.  All 
summer  this  campaign  continued  at  ruinous  cost,  only  to 
be  acknowledged  a  failure  and  to  be  given  up  at  the 
coming  of  winter.  What  gave  the  enterprise  the  finishing 
blow  was  a  new  and  important  development  in  Serbia. 
A  recognized  minor  area  of  conflict,  the  little  Slav  king- 
dom was  not  seriously  molested  by  the  Austrians  till  De- 
cember, 19 14,  when  an  Austrian  invasion  was  victoriously 
repulsed.  Almost  a  year  later,  in  October,  191 5,  Serbia 
was  threatened  with  a  second  and  more  serious  crisis. 
An  Austro-German  force  under  the  German  general, 
Mackensen,  gathered  on  the  Danube  opposite  Belgrad, 
while  the  Bulgars,  elated  by  the  prospect  of  revenge  upon 
the  Serbs  for  the  loss  of  Macedonia  in  the  second  Balkan 
war  of  1913,  resolved  to  give  up  their  neutrahty  and  join 
the  central  powers.  While  Mackensen  pushed  southward 
from  the  Danube,  the  Bulgarian  army  attacked  Serbia 
from  the  east,  that  is,  in  the  Vardar  valley.  The  entrance 
of  Bulgaria  into  the  war  was  a  commanding  event,  be- 
cause it  planted  the  central  powers  firmly  in  the  heart  of 
the  Balkan  peninsula,  and  when  Serbia  was  now  overrun, 
together  with  Montenegro  and  most  of  Macedonia  and 
Albania,  the  longed-for,  unimpeded  connection  between 
Berlin  and  Constantinople  was  at  last  made  perfect. 
The  Balkan  Thus  the  year  1915  proved  a  very  prosperous  one  for 

to^hoose  sides.  Germany,  since  it  brought  the  realization  of  the  dream  of 
a  Middle  Europe  under  German  direction  extending  from 
the  North  Sea  to  the  Dardanelles.  The  only  offset  for 
the  Franco-British  forces  was  the  occupation  of  the  Greek 
city  of  Saloniki  at  the  head  of  the  ^gean  and  the  suc- 
cessful  establishment   there   of   a   military   base   strong 


The  War  and  the  Peace  575 

enough  to  save  southern  Macedonia  from  the  central 
allies,  to  threaten  Bulgaria  with  a  future  offensive,  and  to 
force  Greece,  although  only  after  long  and  timorous 
fluctuation,  into  the  rank  of  the  aUies.  The  definite 
accession  of  Greece  to  the  entente  came  about  in  191 7, 
not  till  after  the  remaining  Balkan  power,  Roumania, 
had  passed  through  a  disastrous  experience.  The  whole 
history  of  the  war  goes  to  show  that  the  small  powers  of 
the  Balkans,  so  deeply  involved  in  some  of  the  main 
issues  of  the  struggle,  could  not  remain  neutral.  But  to 
choose  sides  was  a  very  delicate  matter  because  it  was 
far  from  clear  which  side  would  prove  victorious.  And  yet 
life  itself  hung  on  the  decision,  for  these  small  govern- 
ments were  but  helpless  pawns  in  the  game  of  the  great 
powers  and  were  sure  to  be  ruined  if  they  crossed  the  path 
of  some  irresistible  onsweeping  force.  For  their  part, 
the  two  opposed  European  groups  recognized  the  value 
of  the  accession  to  their  respective  sides  of  a  Balkan 
combatant  and  hotly  bid  against  each  other  for  favor  at 
all  the  Balkan  capitals.  In  this  way  it  came  about  that 
Turkey  and  Bulgaria,  lured  by  the  prospect  of  profit, 
joined  the  central  powers,  that  Greece,  after  long  delay, 
joined  to  the  entente  allies,  and  that  Roumania,  even  before 
the  Greek  decision  came,  ranged  herself  on  the  same  side. 

It  was  in  August,  191 6,  that  Roumania  threw  in  her  Defeat  and 
lot  with  the  allies  with  the  result  that  she  was  straight-  Sllania"^ 
way  attacked  from  two  sides,  badly  mauled,  and  almost   1916. 
entirely  occupied  by  the  central  powers.     In  the  winter, 
1916-17,   Germany   was   apparently   more   securely   en- 
trenched in  the  Balkans  than  ever.     The  only  cloud  on 
the  horizon  was  the  allied  front  firmly  maintained  at 
Saloniki. 

A  last  European  front  remains  to  be  listed,  the  southern  The  Italian 
or  Alpine  front  created  when  Italy,  terminating  the  neu- 


576  The  War  and  the  Peace 

trality  proclaimed  by  her  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war, 
threw  in  her  lot  with  the  entente.  This  happened  in 
May,  191 5,  and  was  immediately  followed  by  an  attack 
in  force  on  Austria  along  the  whole  of  the  Italo-Austrian 
mountain  border.  Slow  Italian  advances  culminated  in 
the  capture  of  the  city  and  fortress  of  Gorizia  in  the  siun- 
mer  of  1916.  In  the  autiunn  of  191 7,  however,  the  gains 
made  were  lost  and  much  else  besides  when  the  Austrians, 
aided  by  German  troops,  broke  through  the  Italian  lines 
at  Caporetto,  captured  many  men  and  much  equipment, 
and  were  not  brought  to  a  halt  till  they  reached  the  line 
of  the  Piave  Ri\'er,  northeast  of  Venice.  In  the  spring  of 
1 918  Italy  was  a  source  of  grave  anxiety  to  the  entente 
which,  however,  the  events  of  the  summer  and  autimin 
of  that  year  scattered  to  the  winds  by  revealing  the 
recovered  morale  and  resistance  of  the  Italian  troops. 
The  campaigns  At  this  point,  though  chiefly  concerned  with  Europe, 
Turkey.  we  must  at  least  indicate  the  leading  conflict-areas  out- 

side the  little  continent.  The  diminished  Ottoman  em- 
pire of  the  twentieth  century  was  largely  Asiatic,  em- 
bracing Asia  Minor,  Syria,  Mesopotamia,  and  Arabia. 
In  all  these  pro\dnces  the  vast  struggle  raged  with  the 
main  feature  of  an  attack  by  Russia  and  Great  Britain 
upon  the  shaking  Ottoman  house.  Russia  made  her  for- 
ward thrust  from  the  Caucasus  into  Asia  Minor  and  con- 
ducted it,  on  the  whole,  victoriously  until  her  collapse  at 
home  in  1917.  Great  Britain  followed  two  separate  and 
converging  lines  of  penetration,  the  first  leading  from  the 
Persian  gulf  into  Mesopotamia,  the  second  from  the 
isthmus  of  Suez  into  Palestine  and  Syria.  In  spite  of 
difficulties  and  setbacks  these  British  offensives  pro- 
ceeded steadily,  culminating  in  the  year  1918  in  a  series 
of  victories  which  occasioned  the  total  collapse  of 
Turkey. 


sea  power. 


The  War  and  the  Peace  577 

Inevitably,  too,  every  German  colony  was  at  least  a  The  war  in  the 
potential  fighting  area.  But  owing  to  the  small  German  colonies. 
forces  abroad  and  their  inability  to  receive  reinforcements 
on  account  of  the  British  control  of  the  seas,  most  of  the 
colonies  fell  wdth  little  resistance  into  the  lap  of  the  allies. 
Thus  the  German  stronghold  in  China,  Kiau-chau,  was 
taken  by  the  Japanese  after  a  few  weeks'  siege,  and  the 
scattered  German  forces  in  Southwest  Africa  and  in 
German  East  Africa  were  gradually  picked  up,  largely  in 
guerrilla  fighting,  by  the  British  or  rather  by  the  British 
colonial  forces  of  South  Africa. 

Having  enumerated,  however  briefly,  the  main  fighting  The  decisive 
areas  on  land,  we  must  now  turn  to  take  account  of  the  "^  ^^^'^^  ° 
sea.  Perhaps,  when  all  is  said,  the  sea-front  was  the 
greatest  of  all  the  fighting  fronts,  or,  to  speak  more  accu- 
rately, the  most  decisive.  The  dominating  factor  in  the 
situation  was  Great  Britain's  control  of  the  world's  sea- 
ways by  means  of  her  overwhelming  naval  forces.  Her 
fleet  at  once  drove  the  German  fleet  and  merchant  ship- 
ping from  the  ocean,  gradually  captured  the  merchantmen 
which  failed  to  reach  a  safe  port,  and  pursued  and  finally 
destroyed  such  German  raiders  as  undertook  to  prey  upon 
the  enemy  commerce.  At  the  same  time  the  British  es- 
tablished a  long-distance  blockade  of  the  German  coasts 
in  order  to  deprive  Germany  of  needed  supplies  and,  to 
make  the  measure  thoroughly  effective,  began  the  regu- 
lation and  control  of  neutral  commerce,  above  all,  of  that 
of  Holland  and  the  Scandinavian  countries  adjacent  to 
Germany,  and  of  that  of  the  United  States,  the  greatest 
producer  of  raw  products  in  the  world.  To  meet  this 
situation  Germany  had  a  gambler's  chance  in  the  mys- 
terious and  as  yet  untried  weapon  of  the  submarine. 
She  declared  in  her  turn  the  British  coast  in  a  state  of 
blockade  and  attempted  to  make  good  her  threat  against 


578 


The  War  and  the  Peace 


The  neutral 
rights  of  the 
United  States 
injured  by 
Great  Britain 
and  Germany. 


vessels  seeking  British  ports  with  a  fleet  of  submarine 
vessels.  But  while  the  British  blockade  of  Germany  was 
wholly  effective  because  no  merchant  vessel,  neutral  or 
otherwise,  could  pass  into  the  North  Sea  without  being 
detected  by  the  British  guard-ships,  the  German  blockade 
of  the  extensive  British  coasts  was  at  best  casual  and 
would  depend,  to  be  even  partially  effective,  on  the  sub- 
marine's sinking  its  prize  since  there  was  small  chance  of 
bringing  it  safely  some  hundreds  of  miles  to  a  German 
port.  However,  to  sink  a  ship  with  its  cargo  had  the  very 
evil  feature  of  imperilling  the  lives  of  passengers  and  crew 
since  the  submarine,  hardly  more  than  a  toy,  though  a 
toy  with  a  sting,  was  unable  to  take  the  victims  on  board 
and  had  no  better  alternative  to  offer  them  than  the 
chance  of  reaching  shore  in  life-boats. 

Over  this  situation  the  United  States  was  drawn  into 
the  struggle.  When  the  war  broke  out  the  great  Ameri- 
can republic  at  once  declared  its  neutrahty  and  with  his 
aloofness  the  citizen  body  was  for  a  long  time  satisfied, 
although  public  sentiment  from  the  first  overwhelmingly 
favored  the  entente.  Many  factors  contributed  to  this 
state  of  mind,  most  conspicuously  the  humanitarian  in- 
dignation aroused  by  the  outrage  done  by  Germany  to 
Belgium  in  seizing  and  holding  the  little  land  in  an  iron 
miUtary  vise.  But  the  war  came  close,  was  woven  into 
the  texture  of  daily  American  experience  chiefly  through 
the  interests  of  American  commerce.  It  was  plain  that 
Great  Britain  was  determined  to  make  the  United  States 
sell  goods  exclusively  to  her  and  her  allies,  and  it  was 
just  as  plain  that  Germany  was  minded  to  have  her  share 
of  American  articles,  failing  which,  she  was  resolved  to 
interrupt  the  supply  of  Great  Britain  with  her  submarine 
weapon.  Purposing  with  deadly  intensity  to  hurt  each 
other,  they  instituted  their  respective  blockades  as  well 


The  War  and  the  Peace  579 

as  strict  measures  regulative  of  sea-borne  trade  which 
unquestionably  signified  a  serious  encroachment  on  the 
rights  of  neutrals  and  therefore  of  the  United  States. 

Protesting  against  the  illegal  ordinances  of  both  com-  The  United 
batants,  President  Wilson  began  a  lively  exchange  of  the  war  over 
diplomatic  notes  with  London  and  Berlin.  From  the  ^^^  submarine 
first,  however,  the  notes  exchanged  with  Germany  had  a 
special  edge,  absent  in  the  case  of  Great  Britain,  because 
Germany's  breaches  of  the  sea  law,  involving  the  use  of 
the  novel  weapon,  the  submarine,  imperilled  American 
lives  and  thereby  deeply  stirred  the  sentiment  of  humanity, 
already  aroused  over  the  invasion  of  Belgium.  The  dip- 
lomatic argument  was  still  being  conducted  in  rather  gen- 
eral terms  when  there  occurred  an  event  which  sharply 
defined  the  issue  between  the  two  countries.  On  May  7, 
191 5,  a  German  submarine  torpedoed  and  sank  without 
warning  the  British  liner  Lusitania,  pitilessly  drowning 
over  a  thousand  men,  women,  and  children,  several  hun- 
dred of  them  of  American  nationality.  The  indignation 
in  the  United  States  was  so  intense  that  the  American 
government  passed  immediately  from  discussion  to  com- 
mand and  insisted  that  the  submarine  conform  to  the  laws 
of  the  sea  and  the  rules  of  humanity,  in  a  word,  that  its 
unrestricted  use  cease  forthwith.  The  German  govern- 
ment yielded,  and  though  there  were  occasional  trans- 
gressions of  the  conditions  laid  down  by  the  United  States, 
a  precarious  peace  was  maintained  till  January  31,  191 7, 
when  the  German  government  published  a  declaration 
notifying  the  neutral  world  of  its  determination  to  resort 
without  more  ado  to  the  unrestricted  use  of  its  tool. 
Plainly  the  British  octopus  grip,  continued  for  over  tv/o 
years,  had  begun  to  tell  in  the  starvation  and  reduced 
production  of  Germany.  The  German  leaders  themselves 
admitted  it  and  justified  the  ruthless  employment  of  the 


580  The  War  and  the  Peace 

submarine  on  the  ground  of  its  being  the  sole  means  in 
their  power  of  getting  back  at  Great  Britain  with  her 
own  programme  of  hunger  and  isolation.  President  Wilson 
promptly  broke  off  diplomatic  relations  and  on  April  6, 
19 1 7,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  declared  war  on 
Germany.  The  die  was  cast. 
The  motives  At  this  juncture  it  becomes  necessary  to  analyze  the 

^ericaif  ^  ^     motives  and  programme  with  which  the  United  States 
public.  entered  the  war.    The  struggle  had  been  going  on  for 

over  two  and  a  half  years  before  the  fateful  decision  was 
taken.  During  this  time  opinion  had  had  time  to  inform 
itself  as  well  as  to  arrive  at  some  kind  of  judgment  touch- 
ing the  merits  of  the  case  and  to  shape  some  kind  of  pro- 
gramme in  the  event  of  America's  participation.  Owing 
to  the  small  attention  paid  in  the  United  States  to  affairs 
in  Europe,  the  bewilderment  over  the  sudden  conflagra- 
tion of  1914  was  extreme  and  the  neutrality  proclaimed  by 
President  Wilson  was  largely  welcome  as  affording  an  op- 
portunity for  study  and  reflection.  Gradually  light  broke 
and  the  con\action  became  general  that  the  war  was  the 
result  of  a  chain  of  rivalries  and  rancors  reaching  back  for 
generations  and  involving  every  sort  of  bitter  contention 
over  markets,  raw  products,  colonies,  military  and  naval 
establishments,  in  sum,  that  it  was  an  issue  of  imperiahsm. 
Inseparably  fused  with  this  judgment,  however,  was  the 
humanitarian  horror  aroused  by  the  orgy  of  killing  which 
had  seized  on  Europe.  In  the  face  of  it  the  cry  was  raised 
that  this  must  be  the  last  war,  it  must  be  "  the  war  to  end 
wars."  Slowly  a  far-reaching  idealist  programme  crystal- 
lized which  aimed  at  nothing  less  than  at  the  abolition  of 
the  evdl  practices  and  institutions  most  immediately  in 
evidence,  such  as  militarism,  secret  diplomacy,  autocratic 
government,  and  hostile  balanced  alliances,  and  which 
proposed  to  replace  them  mth  a  universal  league  pledged 


The  War  and  the  Peace  581 

to  preserve  peace  and  maintain  justice.  And  since  Ger- 
many by  her  rape  of  Belgium,  by  her  narrow,  military 
code  of  conduct,  and  by  her  reckless  pursuit  of  victory 
regardless  of  considerations  of  humanity  illustrated  the 
evils  from  which  the  world  suffered  more  completely  than 
any  other  state,  the  ideahsm  of  the  masses  turned  more 
and  more  against  her  and  proved  no  small  factor,  in  con- 
nection with  the  submarine  issue,  in  thro^^•ing  the  United 
States  into  the  war. 

In  measure  as  American  opinion  clarified  it  found  a  President 
spokesman  in  the  country's  president,  capable  and  ready  ideali's"  peace 
to  translate  what  stirred  the  general  mind  into  eloquent  programme. 
and  mo\'ing  words.  He  signalized  the  entrance  of  the 
United  States  into  the  war  with  a  ringing  indictment  of 
the  autocratic  and  mihtarist  government  of  Germany, 
while  voicing  at  the  same  time  his  continued  good-will 
toward  the  German  people  and  pledging  his  country  to 
the  pursuit  of  imselfish  ends.  From  time  to  time,  in 
further  illustration  of  his  programme,  he  made  additional 
declarations  culminating,  on  January  8,  1918,  in  a  peace 
programme  of  Fourteen  Points,  which  demanded,  among 
other  things,  the  abolition  of  secret  diplomacy,  the  freedom 
of  the  seas,  the  reduction  of  armaments,  the  redrawing  of 
the  map  of  Europe  along  national  Imes,  and  the  creation 
of  a  League  of  Nations  to  maintain  peace  in  the  future. 
President  Wilson's  ringing  pronouncements  appealed  to 
European  as  well  as  to  American  idealism  and  unified 
liberal  opinion  the  world  over  as  it  had  not  been  unified 
before.  Slowly  a  Wilsonian  peace  began  to  outline  itself 
which  not  only  was  directed  against  Germany  and  her 
specific  evils,  but  purposed  to  go  to  the  bottom  of  things 
by  bringing  the  greedy  imperialism  of  the  great  powers 
and  the  ruinous  nationalist  rivalries  of  great  and  small 
alike  under  the  control  of  the  unilied  peoples  of  the  world. 


582 


The  War  and  the  Peace 


The  decisive 
campaign  of 
1918.  Ger- 
many's offen 
sive  followed 
by  the  offen- 
sive of  the 
allies. 


The  alHes 
victorious  on 
the  Syrian, 
Macedonian, 
and  Italian 
fronts. 


With  refreshed  spirits  the  allies  resumed  the  war  on  the 
entrance  into  it  of  the  United  States.  In  19 17  the  Amer- 
ican participation  hardly  caused  a  ripple  for  the  reason 
that  America  had  lirst  to  get  ready.  Besides,  the  defec- 
tion of  Russia  from  the  allied  ranks  broke  the  iron  ring 
around  Germany  and  greatly  relaxed  the  pressure  exer- 
cised upon  her.  The  next  campaign,  however,  the  cam- 
paign of  1 918,  proved  decisive.  It  began  in  March  with 
a  supreme  effort  by  the  German  command  to  break  down 
French  and  British  resistance  before  American  reinforce- 
ments in  sufficient  number  were  at  hand.  For  three 
months  the  Germans  battered  the  allied  lines,  achieving 
considerable  success  but  failing  in  their  main  purpose  of 
breaking  through.  In  their  hour  of  greatest  need  the 
allies  unified  their  command  more  completely  than  ever 
before,  put  the  French  leader.  Marshal  Foch,  in  supreme 
control,  and  presently,  in  July,  assumed  the  offensive  in 
their  turn.  The  next  months  brought  the  most  ferocious 
fighting  which  the  war,  from  first  to  last  unexampled  in 
ferocity,  had  witnessed.  Irresistibly  the  French,  British, 
and  Americans  drove  forward,  pushing  the  Germans  back, 
until  it  was  clear  that  they  could  no  longer  maintain 
themselves  in  the  invaded  districts  of  Belgium  and 
France. 

The  outlook  for  Germany  was  already  somber  when 
through  occurrences  on  other  fronts  it  settled  into  the 
blackness  of  night.  In  the  late  summer  the  British  began 
to  apply  their  final  pressure  upon  the  Turks  in  Syria, 
resulting  in  the  rout  of  the  Turks  and  the  utter  break- 
down of  Turk  resistance.  Simultaneously,  the  allies  mov- 
ing north  from  Saloniki,  broke  through  the  Bulgarian 
lines  (September,  191 8)  and  obliged  Bulgaria,  unable  to 
get  sufficient  support  from  Austria  and  Germany  to  steady 
its  panicky  forces,  abjectly  to  sue  for  peace.    Thus  Tur- 


The  War  and  the  Peace  583 

key  and  Bulgaria  were  broken  to  bits  and  eliminated  from 
the  struggle.  Inevitably  the  Austrian  morale  was  badly 
shaken  by  these  disasters  in  the  Austrian  rear,  and  when, 
in  October,  the  Italians  undertook  an  offensive  along  the 
Piave,  they  easily  crumpled  the  Austrian  lines,  captured 
division  after  division,  and  proceeded  to  strike  for  Vienna. 
Following  defeat  in  the  field,  the  whole  Austro-Hungarian 
political  fabric  collapsed  without  delay:  the  house  of 
Hapsburg  was  deposed,  the  various  nationalities  merged 
in  the  composite  state  declared  their  independence,  and 
the  war  ended  on  this  front  with  an  armistice,  signed 
November  4,  that  left  the  Italian  army  in  complete  con- 
trol of  the  situation. 

These  events,  taken  in  connection  with  their  own  losing  The  German 
struggle  on  the  west  front,  positively  obliged  the  Germans  fues'^fol^peace 
to  treat  for  peace.  In  those  autumn  weeks,  while  blow 
after  blow  was  being  delivered  by  the  allies  on  every  front, 
the  shaken  government  of  the  kaiser  slowly  crumbled  to 
destruction.  The  opposition  groups  of  the  Reichstag, 
seizing  control,  opened  negotiations  with  President  Wilson, 
but  presently  had  to  retire  before  a  rising  of  the  angered 
masses  who  drove  the  Reichstag,  together  with  the  imperial 
family,  from  power  and  set  up  a  repubhc.  A  moderate 
group  of  socialists  took  over  the  government.  Recogniz- 
ing the  hopelessness  of  stemming  the  revolutionary  tide. 
Emperor  William  II.  left  the  army  and  fled  to  neutral 
Holland  (November  10).  Meanwhile  President  Wilson, 
acting  as  the  spokesman  of  the  allies,  offered  the  German 
people  his  programme  of  the  Fourteen  Points  as  the  basis 
of  a  general  peace.  This  having  been  accepted,  on  the 
day  folloviing  William  II. 's  flight,  on  November  11,  1918, 
an  armistice  was  signed  which  required  the  Germans  to 
retire  beyond  the  Rhine  and  effectually  to  disarm  them- 
selves.   By  an  enormous  coordinated  effort  the  resist- 


584  The  War  and  the  Peace 

ance  of  the  enemy  had  been  broken  and  the  victory  won. 
What  would  the  peace  bring? 
The  peace  con-       The  peace!    Plainly  it  was  as  important  as  the  war; 
be^wholi?""  *°  in  fact  the  war  would  have  been  fought  in  vain  if  the 
tiTfivfvkrton-  peace  did  not  undertake  honestly  to  grapple  wdth  the 
ous  powers.        evils  which  afflicted  the  world  before  the  war  began  and 
which  were  the  real  causes  of  the  war.    In  consequence 
of  the  immensity  of  the  \ictory  the  arrangements  for 
peace  would  be  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  the  victors, 
for  of  the  four  enemy  states  Austria-Hungary  had  disap- 
peared from  the  map,  Turkey  and  Bulgaria  were  crushed 
and  all  but  annihilated,   and  Germany,  disarmed  and 
passing  through  the  throes  of  a  revolution,  might  plead 
the  protection  of  the  Fourteen  Points,  but  was  absolutely 
impotent  to  enforce  consideration  of  her  views.    At  the 
time  when  the  long  and  terrible  struggle  came  to  an  end, 
over  a  score  of  states,  great  and  small,  were  joined  to- 
gether as  allies  or  associates  against  Germany,  and  as  soon 
as  Paris  had  been  agreed  on  as  the  place  of  meeting,  rep- 
resentatives of  the  victorious  states  wended  their  way 
to  the  French  capital  to  take  part  in  the  great  congress 
which  was  to  settle  the  disturbed  affairs  of  the  world. 
Of  course  the  final  decisions  would  be  taken  by  the  great 
powers,   Great  Britain,   France,   Italy,  Japan,  and  the 
United  States.     They  might  listen  to  suggestions  from 
the  smaller  states,  but  in  accordance  with  immemorial 
usage  they  would  always  reserve  the  last  word  to  them- 
selves.    When,  in  January,   1919,  the  peace  conference 
was  called  to  order,  everything  therefore  depended  on  the 
temper  and  programme  of  the  five  supreme  representa- 
tives of  the  five  victor  powers,  but  also,  we  should  not 
fail  to  note,  on  the  temper  of  the  respective  pubhcs  which 
they  served,  since,  no  matter  what  an  individual  leader 
might  think,  he  could  not  afford  to  put  himself  out  of 


The  War  and  the  Peace  585 

touch  with  his  people.  The  people,  however,  of  all  the 
victor  countries,  persisting  in  the  stern  and  exultant 
frame  of  mind  produced  by  the  war  and  its  triumphant 
ending,  were  sure  to  make  their  influence  felt  in  favor  of 
a  severe  retribution  to  be  visited  on  the  vanquished. 

It  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  present  the  work  of  Conflict  of  the 
the  peace  conference  of  Paris  in  an  objective,  historical  dMom^ac^^^^  f 
light  because  we  are  still  too  close  to  see  its  problems  feaiism  and 
and  decisions  in  their  true  perspective.  Suffice  it  to  call 
attention  to  some  of  the  more  outstanding  clashes  and 
conclusions  and,  to  begin  with,  to  the  issue  which  leaped 
to  life  the  moment  the  congress  opened  its  doors.  During 
the  war  an  idealist  programme  had  sprung  into  being 
which,  under  the  name  of  the  Fourteen  Points,  had,  as 
already  noted,  generally  won  the  adherence  of  the  liberal 
elements  the  world  over.  What  is  more,  to  this  platform, 
formulated  by  President  Wilson,  the  governments  them- 
selves had  become  committed  when,  in  connection  with 
the  armistice  negotiations,  they  offered  it  to  Germany  as 
a  basis  of  discussion.  Inevitably,  however,  the  victory, 
immense  in  its  scope  and  won  after  a  terrific,  nerve-racking 
struggle,  reinvigorated  the  nationalist  and  imperiahst 
designs  which  had  never  ceased  to  prompt  the  diplomacy 
of  Europe  and  which  were  admittedly  a  leading  factor 
in  the  war.  These  designs  had  been  discussed  by  the  re- 
spective foreign  offices  in  the  course  of  the  struggle  and 
had  finally  led  to  secret  agreements  among  the  allies  which 
enumerated  in  more  or  less  definite  terms  the  territories 
and  economic  advantages  each  power  might  expect  as  its 
reward  in  the  event  of  victory.  All  the  powers,  with  the 
single  exception  of  the  United  States,  were  involved  in 
these  elaborate  transactions,  and  it  was  a  serious  question 
how,  if  at  all,  the  old-fashioned  realist  diplomacy  which 
they  represented  was  to  be  brought  into  harmony  with 


586 


The  War  and  the  Peace 


The  secret 
treaties  of  the 
allies. 


The  directive 

influence 
exercised  b}' 
the  secret 
treaties. 


the  idealist  programme  represented  by  President  Wilson 
and  the  Fourteen  Points. 

For  the  better  understanding  of  the  nature  and  the 
gravity  of  the  issue  at  Paris  it  is  necessary  to  take  a  closer 
view  of  the  secret  treaties.  Signed,  sometimes  between 
two,  sometimes  between  three  and  more  powers,  these 
treaties  were  very  numerous,  although  their  exact  number 
was  not  known  and  their  contents,  nay,  their  very  ex- 
istence had  been  sedulously  kept  from  the  general  public. 
Gradually,  however,  in  one  way  or  another,  enough  in- 
formation leaked  out  to  permit  the  curious  to  get  a  reason- 
ably secure  picture  of  the  territorial  distributions  to  which 
the  victors  had  become  mutually  committed.  Thus  the 
Ottoman  empire,  long  a  chief  bone  of  European  imperialist 
contention,  was  partitioned  among  Great  Britain,  Russia, 
France,  and  Italy  in  such  a  manner  that  each  power  re- 
ceived that  portion  to  which  it  particularly  aspired. 
Further,  the  German  colonial  possessions  of  the  Far-East 
were  di^dded  between  Great  Britain  and  Japan,  Japan 
getting  the  Hon's  share  as  heir  to  Germany  in  China. 
Again,  not  only  was  France  to  receive  Alsace-Lorraine, 
but  she  was  also  given  definite  assurances  involving  the 
control,  if  not  the  possession,  of  the  whole  German  terri- 
tory on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine.  And  finally,  Italy  was 
promised,  in  addition  to  the  coveted  and  genuinely  Italian 
districts  of  the  Trentino  and  Trieste,  a  portion  of  the 
Austro-German  Tyrol  and  such  Adriatic  areas  as  Istria 
and  northern  Dalmatia,  where  the  ItaHan  element  was 
numerically  inferior  to  the  Slovenes  and  Croats,  two 
South  Slav  peoples,  closely  related  to  the  Serbs. 

When  the  sessions  at  Paris  opened,  the  three  great  Eu- 
ropean victors  were  represented  by  their  prime  ministers, 
Lloyd  George  acting  for  Great  Britain,  Clemenceau  for 
France,  and  Orlando  for  Italy.     From  outside  Europe  they 


The  War  and  the  Peace  587 


were  joined  by  the  Marquis  Saionji  representing  the 
government  of  Japan  and  by  President  Wilson  who,  setting 
a  new  precedent  in  the  history  of  his  country,  crossed  the 
ocean  to  conduct  the  case  of  the  United  States  in  person. 
Russia,  it  should  be  observed,  was  not  represented.  Its 
Bolshevist  government,  committed  to  a  vast  revolutionary 
experiment  aiming  at  nothing  less  than  a  new  communist 
order  of  society,  had  broken  off  relations  with  the  allies; 
or,  it  would  be  as  correct  to  say,  in  \iew  of  the  incom- 
patibiHty  manifested  by  both  sides,  the  allies  had  broken 
off  relations  with  the  Bolshevists.  Alarmed  at  the  propa- 
ganda issuing  from  Moscow  and  Petrograd  and  appealing 
to  the  workers  of  the  world  to  rise  everywhere  in  revolu- 
tion, the  western  nations  had  closed  to  Russia  all  the  routes 
of  trade  and  intercourse  which  they  commanded  and  had 
gradually  drifted  into  a  relation  with  the  Bolshevist 
government  hardly  distinguishable  from  war.  Russia, 
therefore,  was  ignored  when  the  distributions  to  be  effected 
under  the  secret  treaties  were  brought  up  for  discussion. 
The  other  interested  powers,  however,  that  is.  Great 
Britain,  France,  Italy,  and  Japan,  resolved  to  insist  on 
their  bond,  although  they  declared  themselves  willing  to 
make  any  concession  to  the  idealist  policy  of  the  United 
States  consistent  with  the  national  interest  to  which  each 
one  was  passionately  committed. 

Under  these  circumstances  President  Wilson  had  not  President 
been  long  in  Paris  before  he  saw  that  he  would  be  obliged  the^acceptan« 
to  make  concessions  to  the  fierce  nationalism  which  dom-  ^[  ^^^.  League 

of  Nations. 

inated  the  counsels  of  his  associates  and  which  was  con- 
secrated by  the  secret  treaties.  Undoubtedly  these  ar- 
rangements greatly  disconcerted  him,  but  since  they 
represented  the  solemn  mutual  pledges  of  his  fellow- 
combatants,  he  considered  it  ad\Tlsable,  while  trying  to 
mitigate  some  of  their  worst  provisions,  to  accept  them  in 


of  the  League. 


588  The  War  and  the  Peace 

the  main  and  to  insist  in  return  on  a  world  union,  a  League 
of   Nations,    pledged    thenceforward    to    substitute   the 
processes  of  peace  and  conciliation  for  the  practices  of  a 
rapacious    imperialism.    The    conflict    among    opposed 
opinions  at  Paris  was  sharp,  but  the  President  won,  at 
least  so  far  as  the  adoption  of  his  plan  of  a  League  of 
Nations  was  concerned. 
The  Covenant        In  April,  1919,  the  Covenant  of  the  League  was  com- 
pleted and  published  to  the  world.     Of  course  it  was 
violently  criticized  by  the  conservatives  of  every  country, 
who  thought  it  went  too  far  in  the  experiment  of  inter- 
nationalism, no  less  than  by  the  liberal  opinion  of  the  world, 
which  contended  that  it  did  not  go  far  enough.     Its  two 
chief  features  are   an  Assembly  and   a   Council.    The 
Assembly  is  a  general  body  in  which  all  the  states,  mem- 
bers of  the  League,  are  represented  and  in  which  each 
state  is  equal  to  every  other  by  reason  of  its  casting,  re- 
gardless of  size  and  might,  a  single  vote.     The  Council, 
a  smaller  and  far  more  important  body,  is  composed  of 
representatives  of  the  five  victor  powers  (the  United  States, 
Great  Britain,  France,  Italy,  and  Japan)  together  with 
four  representatives  of  four  other  members  of  the  League 
chosen  by  the  Assembly,  that  is,  nine  in  all.    The  Council 
is,  among  other  matters,  empowered  to  formulate  plans 
for  the  reduction  of  armaments,  to  abate  the  evils  which 
have  arisen  from  the  private  manufacture  of  munitions, 
to  act  as  a  body  of  conciliators  in  case  of  a  dispute  which 
threatens  war,  and  to  formulate  the  terms  under  which  a 
backward  area  is  to  be  committed  to  the  control  and  rule 
of  a  member-state  acting  as  the  agent  or  mandatory  of 
the  League.     Since  the  chief  purpose  of  the  League  is  to 
settle  contests  among  nations  without  recourse  to  war, 
the  Covenant  provides  for  a  permanent  court  of  inter- 
national justice.     Subject  to  a  new  decision  of  the  Council, 


The  War  and  the  Peace  589 

the  seat  of  the  League  is  estabHshed  at  Geneva  in  Switz- 
erland. 

With  the  Covenant  of  the  League  of  Nations  accepted  (;ermany  signs 
by  all  the  delegates,  the  path  was  clear  for  the  treaty  of  vjrslnks^  °^ 
peace  with  Germany.  Besides  five  great  powers,  over  a  J^^^  28,  igig. 
score  of  smaller  states  had  either  engaged  in  war  against 
the  Teuton  empire  or  had  broken  off  diplomatic  relations 
with  it,  and  the  harmonizing  of  the  often  conflicting 
claims  of  this  mass  of  victors  was  no  easy  matter.  How- 
ever, on  May  7,  19 19,  the  completed  treaty  was  pre- 
sented to  a  German  delegation  called  for  that  purpose  to 
Versailles.  They  were  told  peremptorily  that  no  round- 
table  discussion  was  to  be  allowed  but  that  they  might 
communicate  in  writing  their  objections  to  the  terms  sub- 
mitted. This  they  accordingly  did,  passing  at  last  from 
piece-meal  criticism  to  an  elaborate  set  of  counter-pro- 
posals. On  these  having  been  answered  and  rejected  the 
Germans  were  told  to  sign  without  delay  on  pain  of  a 
resumption  of  the  war.  To  this  resolute  language  the 
government  of  Berlin  yielded  and  on  June  28,  in  a  formal 
session  held  in  the  famous  palace  of  Louis  XIV.,  where 
the  German  empire  had  been  proclaimed  in  1871,  the 
document  which  registered  its  demise  received  the  signa- 
ture of  vanquished  and  victors.  By  a  no  less  remarkable 
coincidence  the  day  marked  the  fifth  anniversary  of  the 
historic  pistol-shot  which  killed  the  Austrian  archduke 
and  which  had  ever  since  been  going  round  the  world  in 
deafening  echoes. 

The  treaty  of  Versailles  was  a  weighty  and  drastic  The  territoiial 
document  of  80,000  words  which  humbled  Germany  ut-  q^^^  °^ 
terly.    By  means  of  its  territorial  provisions  she  was 
curtailed  both  east  and  west,  losing  Alsace-Lorraine  to 
France  and  the  bulk  of  the  two  provinces  of  Posen  and  West 
Prussia  to  the  resuscitated  state  of  Poland.     In  addition. 


5  go  The  War  and  the  Peace 

certain  districts  in  northern  Schleswig  and  far  more  ex- 
tensive ones  along  the  eastern  confines  of  Prussia,  par- 
ticularly upper  Silesia  with  its  invaluable  coal-fields,  were 
designated  as  plebiscite  areas,  where  it  was  left  to  the 
population  to  decide  by  vote  whether  they  wished  to 
remain  in  the  German  communion.  In  another  important 
German  coal  region,  that  of  the  Saar,  a  Prussian  district 
adjoining  Lorraine,  the  coal  mines  were  given  to  France 
outright  but  poHtically  the  region  was  put  under  the 
League  of  Nations  with  the  understanding  that  the  in- 
habitants would,  after  fifteen  years,  have  the  privilege 
of  determining  their  ultimate  fate  by  a  popular  vote. 
Finally,  the  German  colonies  in  Africa,  Asia,  and  the 
Pacific  ocean  were  distributed  among  the  victors,  in  some 
cases  not  as  owners  in  full  sovereignty  but  under  the 
mandatory  system  which  reserved  a  right  of  supervision 
to  the  League  of  Nations.  Without  doubt  it  was  an 
intelligent  proceeding  to  give  the  League  of  Nations  this 
power  of  review  since  only  by  means  of  an  active  partici- 
pation in  the  affairs  of  the  world  could  the  League  prove 
its  vitality  and  acquire  a  needed  prestige.  In  pursuance 
of  this  aim,  particularly  dear  to  President  Wilson,  chief 
sponsor  of  the  Covenant,  the  execution  of  the  whole 
treaty  of  Versailles  was  put  more  or  less  in  the  hands  of 
the  League. 
The  disarma-  In  the  important  matter  of  disarmament  Germany 
reparation  agreed  to  surrender  to  the  allies  practically  the  whole  of  her 
clauses.  ^^^^^  equipment — her  fleet,  her  submarines,  her  cannon,  her 

machine  guns,  her  munitions,  her  military  and  naval  air- 
craft. She  further  agreed  to  maintain  henceforward  a 
navy  so  small  as  to  be  negligible  and  to  support  an  army 
which  shall  not  exceed  100,000  men.  Universal  military 
service,  with  which  her  history  was  peculiarly  interwoven, 
was  to  be  abolished  and  the  army  was  to  be  recruited 


The  War  and  the  Peace  591 

solely  by  voluntary  enlistment.  In  sum,  Germany  v.as 
disarmed  in  the  present  and  made  powerless  in  the  future. 
But  even  more  important  were  the  reparations  imposed 
on  Germany  together  with  the  economic  consequences 
which  they  entailed.  The  beaten  nation  had,  in  the  ar- 
mistice agreement,  accepted  full  responsibility  "for  all 
damage  done  to  the  civilian  population  of  the  allies  and  to 
their  property  by  the  aggression  of  Germany  by  land,  by 
sea,  and  from  the  air."  Under  this  comprehensive,  if 
somewhat  indefinite,  obligation  Germany  was  saddled 
with  a  vast  burden  of  payments.  She  agreed  to  replace, 
ton  for  ton,  all  shipping  destroyed  by  the  submarine  terror 
or  from  other  causes;  she  pledged  her  resources  to  the  re- 
building of  the  devastated  areas  of  France  and  Belgium; 
she  promised  to  assemble  and  hand  over  without  delay 
large  quantities  of  live  stock  such  as  milch  cows,  heifers, 
stallions,  mares,  and  sheep,  and  annually,  for  years  to 
come,  to  deliver  many  miUion  tons  of  coal.  But  the 
weightiest  of  all  reparation  items  was  the  money  indem- 
nity. Because  the  victors  could  not  agree  on  the  total 
amount  to  be  paid  by  Germany,  they  patched  up  a  pro- 
visional arrangement  calling  for  the  immediate  payment 
of  some  billions  of  gold  marks  but  putting  off  the  fixing 
of  the  definitive  sum  to  May  i,  1921.  Finally,  a  permanent 
committee,  called  the  reparation  commission,  was  estab- 
Hshed  to  hold  Germany  to  the  exact  fulfillment  of  the  terms 
imposed  on  her.  In  effect  the  reparation  commission  un- 
dertook to  manage  Germany  as  a  bankrupt  estate  in  the 
interest  of  the  creditors. 

Resolved  to  get  their  full  rights  under  the  treaty,  the  The  military 
allies  did  not  overlook  military  coercion.    They  occupied  ck'^'^es" 
with  their  armed  forces  the  area  west  of  the  river  Rhine 
together  with  the  three  important  bridge-heads  on  the 
east  bank  at  Mainz,  Coblenz,  and  Cologne.    The  occupa- 


592 


The  War  and  the  Peace 


Additional 
labors  of  the 
peace 
conference. 


The  treaty 
with  Austria. 


tion  was  fixed  for  a  term  of  fifteen  years  and  was  to  be  at 
the  expense  of  the  Germans.  Moreover,  the  treaty  re- 
served to  the  victors  the  right  to  occupy  with  their  troops 
additional  German  territory  whenever  Germany  was  in 
voluntary  default  in  its  obligations.  Although  there  were 
many  other  articles  in  the  treaty,  each  of  which  cancelled 
some  property  or  treaty  right  of  Germany  within  or  with- 
out her  political  boundaries,  enough  has  been  said  to 
make  clear  that  from  her  high-flying  venture  in  im- 
perialism she  emerged  beaten,  diminished,  impotent,  and 
a  beggar. 

With  the  treaty  of  Versailles  out  of  the  way,  President 
Wilson  and  the  leading  dignitaries  went  home,  but  their 
delegates  remained  behind  at  Paris  to  draw  up  the  docu- 
ments which,  besides  establishing  peace  with  Austria, 
Hungary,  Bulgaria,  and  Turkey,  should  regulate  the  boun- 
daries and  impose  certain  obligations  on  the  many  new 
nations  established  on  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  empires  of 
the  Hapsburgs  and  Romanoffs.  The  labors  of  the  peace 
conference  continued  therefore  through  19 19  and  much 
of  1920. 

The  treaty  with  Austria,  now  a  small  German  re- 
public of  about  six  million  inhabitants,  of  whom  two 
million  lived  in  the  single  city  of  Vienna,  was  ready  first 
and  was  duly  signed  at  St.  Germain  in  September,  1919. 
By  virtue  of  it  Austria  obHgated  herself  to  meet  a  bill  for 
reparations  so  greatly  in  excess  of  her  assets  that  she,  too, 
had  to  be  taken  over  as  a  bankrupt  concern  by  the  same 
reparation  commission  appointed  as  receiver  for  Germany 
under  the  treaty  of  Versailles.  Although  she  had,  as  was 
natural  enough  in  view  of  the  triumph  throughout  the 
world  of  the  nationahst  principle,  ex-pressed  a  wish  to 
join  Germany,  the  conference,  still  filled  with  the  fear  of 
its  late  enemy  and  unwilling  to  see  Germany  strengthened 


The  War  and  the  Peace  593 

by  the  addition  of  new  territory,  ruled  otherwise.  For 
the  present  at  least  Austria  was  to  be  a  minor  German 
republic  dwelling  in  the  shadow  of  its  greater  brother. 
Finally,  after  recognizing  the  sovereignty  and  independ- 
ence, within  the  boundaries  drawn  by  the  conference,  of 
the  states  formed  wholly  or  in  part  from  the  Hapsburg 
wreck,  to  wit,  Czecho-Slovakia,  Jugo-Slavia,  and  Poland, 
Austria  submitted  to  all  cessions  of  territory  required  of 
her  in  favor  of  these  states  as  well  as  of  Roumania  and 
Italy,  which,  as  active  members  of  the  victor  group,  had 
not  failed  to  claim  a  share  in  the  Hapsburg  heritage. 

Next  came  the  treaty  with  Bulgaria,  which,  signed  at  The  treaty 
Neuilly,  near  Paris,  in  November,  1919,  miposed  on  the  and't&Bafkan 
defeated  state  a  large  but  definite  indemnity  of  something  outlook. 
over  two  billion  gold  francs  and  limited  the  Bulgarian 
army  henceforth  to  20,000  men.  In  addition  Bulgaria  was 
obliged  to  accede  to  various  losses  of  territory',  the  most 
grievous  being  the  province  of  Thrace  together  with  the 
^gean  seaboard.  Macedonia,  to  which  Bulgaria  could 
put  forth,  on  purely  nationalist  grounds,  as  good  a  claim 
or  better  than  any  of  her  neighbors,  had  already  been  lost 
in  the  war  of  1913  and,  though  regained  in  191 5,  was 
once  again  divided  between  Greece  and  Serbia.  In  the 
Ught  of  the  Bulgar  treaty  the  Balkan  peninsula,  which  had 
been  a  leading,  though  by  no  means  the  only  storm  center 
of  Europe  throughout  the  nineteenth  century,  and  which 
had  set  the  match  to  an  inflammable  continent  in  1914, 
will  doubtless  persist  as  a  zone  of  danger.  Its  pacification 
is  highly  desirable,  and  perhaps  by  means  of  a  loose  federa- 
tion of  all  its  states,  if  it  were  feasible,  the  way  might  be 
cleared  for  a  relaxation  of  the  violent  tension  and  the 
triumph  of  a  better  spirit.  But  with  Bulgaria  nursing  a 
grudge  on  national  and  economic  grounds  and  with  no  one 
of  the  Balkan  states  particularly  well-disposed  to  any 


594 


The  War  and  the  Peace 


The  treaty 
with  Hungary. 


The  treaty 
with  Turkey: 
internationali- 
zation of  the 
straits. 


Other,  the  creation  of  a  federative  commonwealth  is  hardly 
to  be  expected,  at  least  not  until  much  water  has  run  down 
the  Danube. 

The  treaty  with  Hungary  was  greatly  delayed,  owing 
to  the  peculiarly  violent  domestic  disturbances  in  that  mid- 
Danubian  land  which  followed  its  defeat  in  war.  No 
sooner  had  the  Hapsburg  dynasty  been  deposed  than,  as 
in  the  case  of  Russia  and  Germany,  a  republic  was  pro- 
claimed. However,  in  March,  1919,  the  communists  or 
"Reds,"  who  drew  their  inspiration  from  the  Russia  of 
Lenin,  overthrew  the  middle  class,  excluded  them  from 
power,  and  set  up  a  purely  proletarian  regime.  Not  till 
the  month  of  August  were  the  communists  overthrowTi 
by  an  invasion  from  Roumania,  whereupon  a  strongly 
conservative  group  of  politicians  succeeded  in  seizing  the 
reins  at  Budapest,  Thus,  in  the  year  following  the  ar- 
mistice, control  fluctuated  violently  to  and  fro.  WTien  in 
January,  1920,  the  allies  laid  the  treaty  of  Trianon  before 
the  Hungarian  delegates  summoned  to  this  end  to  Paris, 
it  was  found  to  be  modeled  closely  on  the  treaties  of  Ver- 
sailles and  St,  Germain,  The  amount  of  reparations  to 
be  paid  was  left  unsettled,  the  army  was  reduced  to 
35,000  men,  and  very  large  slices  of  territor}',  prepon- 
derantly inhabited  by  Roumanians,  Slovaks,  and  Serbs 
were  handed  over  respectively  to  Roumania,  Czecho- 
slovakia, and  Jugo-Sla\da.  By  these  decisions  the  new 
republic  of  Hungary  was  reduced  in  territory  to  one-third 
of  the  former  kingdom  and  in  population  to  something  less 
than  nine  million  inhabitants. 

Owing  to  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  disrupted 
Ottoman  empire  and  of  the  whole  Near-East,  as  well  as 
because  of  differences  of  opinion  among  the  victors,  the 
treaty  with  Turkey  was  not  ready  till  the  summer  of  1920, 
The  chief  stone  of  stumbling  among  the  conferees  was  the 


1 


The  War  and  the  Peace  595 


age-old  problem  of  Constantinople  and  the  straits.  By  a 
secret  treaty  drawn  up  in  19 15  this  invaluable  area  had 
been  made  over  to  czarist  Russia,  which  therewith  came 
into  sight  of  a  goal  obstinately  pursued  for  generations. 
By  going  Bolshevist,  however,  and  deserting  the  allies, 
Russia  was  accounted  to  have  forfeited  the  prize.  After 
prolonged  discussion  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Italy,  the 
powers  which  controlled  the  situation,  came  to  a  decision. 
They  agreed  to  leave  the  sultan  in  Constantinople,  though 
in  a  strictly  subordinate  position,  and  to  give  over  the 
supreme  direction  of  the  ancient  city,  as  well  as  of  the  ad- 
joining territory  of  the  Bosphorus  and  Dardanelles,  to  an 
international  commission.  While  leaving  the  details  of 
this  control  to  be  elaborated  later,  it  was  declared  that  the 
navigation  of  the  straits  was  to  be  open  in  peace  and  war 
alike  to  all  vessels  of  every  kind  without  distinction  of 
flag. 

By  the  remaining  terms  of  the  Turkish  treaty,  usually  The  liquida- 
referred  to  as  the  treaty  of  Sevres,  the  bulk  of  the  former  o?U)mVn  ^ 
empire  was  distributed  among  the  victors,  though  often  empire, 
with  important  qualifications.  The  great  areas  of  Meso- 
potamia and  Syria  were  reserved  respectively  for  Great 
Britain  and  France  under  the  mandatory  system  of  the 
League  of  Nations.  In  southern  Syria  an  interesting  ex- 
periment was  inaugurated  with  the  ancient  land  of  Pales- 
tine, for  it  was  proclaimed  a  Jewish  homeland  under  the 
protection  of  Great  Britain,  acting  in  this  case  also  as 
mandatory  of  the  League.  Though  Arabia  was  set  up 
as  an  independent  state  of  Arabs  under  the  rule  of  the 
sheriff  of  Mecca,  awarded  the  title  king,  the  new  kingdom 
is  and  can  hardly  be  other  than  a  protectorate  of  Great 
Britain.  Considering  all  these  territorial  arrangements, 
it  is  clear  that  the  struggle  conducted  for  so  many  genera- 
tions over  the  inheritance  of  "  the  Sick  Man"  has  ended,  at 


596 


The  War  and  the  Peace 


The  treaty, 
after  cutting 
off  Smyrna  and 
Armenia  and 
delimiting 
economic 
spheres  for  the 
victors,  con- 
cedes the  rest 
of  Asia  Minor 
to  Turkey. 


Persistence  of 
numerous  areas 
of  disturbance: 
Russia. 


least  for  the  present,  with  the  triumph  of  Great  Britain, 
cast,  as  the  result  of  a  successful  war,  for  the  role  of  re- 
siduary legatee. 

So  far  as  the  treaty  of  Sevres  goes,  the  only  province 
left  to  the  sultan  is  Asia  Minor,  but  even  this  comes  to 
him  in  a  much  reduced  form.  Smyrna  and  its  hinterland 
were  assigned  to  Greece,  while  spheres  of  interest  for  ex- 
clusive economic  exploitation  were  reserved  to  the  three 
chief  contracting  powers,  for  Italy,  France,  and  Great 
Britain.  The  treaty  also  provided  for  an  independent 
Armenia  in  the  mountain  area  between  Asia  Minor  and 
the  Caucasus.  Decimated  by  the  repeated  and  systematic 
massacres  of  the  Turks,  the  Armenians,  a  Christian  people, 
had  won  the  warm  sympathy  of  Europe  which  now  freed 
them,  so  far  as  a  paper  declaration  could  do  so,  from  the 
Ottoman  yoke.  Under  these  circumstances  hardly  more 
of  Asia  Minor  was  left  to  Turkey  than  the  dry  and  un- 
productive central  plateau.  But  even  in  respect  of  this 
plateau  the  sultan  was  placed  so  completely  under  the 
tutelage  of  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Italy  that  we  must 
conclude  that  the  intention  of  the  victors  was  to  strike 
him  from  the  list  of  independent  sovereigns.  In  a  word 
the  treaty  of  Sevres  meant  the  end  of  the  Ottoman  em- 
pire. But  even  if  the  treaty  should  become  effective — 
which  remains  of  course  to  be  seen — will  the  end  of  Turkey 
mean  the  end  of  conflict  among  the  many  claimants,  great 
and  small,  to  the  lands  which  once  constituted  a  great 
state? 

If  the  leading  purpose  of  the  treaties  here  hurriedly 
sketched  was  to  reestablish  peace  and  bring  the  war-racked 
nations  of  Europe  back  to  the  pursuit  of  their  normal 
interests  in  field,  office,  and  factory,  that  end  was  only 
very  partially  accomplished.  Almost  innumerable  were 
the  areas  where  conflict  continued  in  spite  of  the  fist  from 


The  War  and  the  Peace  597 

the  Paris  Olympians.  Though  this  exasperating  and 
dangerous  persistence  of  social  ferment  was  due  to  some 
extent  to  short-sighted  and  ill-considered  acts  on  their 
part,  it  was,  without  doubt,  in  the  main  beyond  their 
control  and  must  in  fairness  be  charged  to  the  anarchy 
produced  by  four  savage  and  demoralizing  years  of  war. 
To  convey  some  idea  of  the  present  world  situation  the 
main  regions  where  disturbances  persisted  must  be  here 
briefly  indicated.  First  and  foremost  comes  Russia.  Fol- 
lowing the  revolution  of  191 7  the  former  empire  of  the 
czars,  embracing  the  great  plain  of  eastern  Europe  and 
the  still  vaster  stretches  of  northern  Asia,  began  to  rock 
like  a  ship  in  the  clutches  of  a  gale  under  the  impact  of 
such  a  revolutionary  storm  as  was  without  parallel  in 
history.  The  extreme  socialists,  the  Bolsheviki,  who 
usurped  the  rule  in  November,  191 7,  to  the  battle-cry:  all 
power  to  the  proletariat,  deliberately  set  about  realizing 
their  communistic  programm.e  and  baulked  at  no  measure, 
however  severe,  calculated  to  break  down  domestic  oppo- 
sition. Whenever  the  native  enemies  of  the  Bolshevists, 
whether  former  monarchists  or  supporters  of  a  liberal 
bourgeois  regime,  raised  the  banner  of  revolt,  the  govern- 
ments of  France  and  England  secretly  or  openly  came  to 
their  support.  This  meant  fresh  fighting,  often  on  a  large 
scale  and  at  many  points.  Nor  was  that  all.  The  former 
subject  peoples  of  the  czar,  who,  being  non-Russians, 
had  seized  the  opportunity  afforded  by  the  revolution  to 
proclaim  their  independence,'  frantically  armed  themselves 
ready,  if  need  be,  to  defend  their  ne\\ly  acquired  liberty. 
From  their  frequent  alarms,  many  of  them  entirely  fantas- 
tic, arose  a  situation  which  produced  war  or  conditions 
hardly  distinguishable  from  war  along  a  vast  border  area — 
in  the  Baltic  provinces,  in  Poland,  in  the  Ukraine,  in  the 
Caucasus,  and  in  Siberia. 


598 


The  War  and  the  Peace 


The  uneasy 
new  states    ' 
formed  from 
the  wreck  of 
czarist  Russia. 


The  domestic 
diflBcuIties  and 
economic  ex- 
haustion of 
Germany  and 
her  central 
European 
neighbors. 


Let  US  glance  at  the  outstanding  creations  of  this  na- 
tionahst  (but  also  economic)  ferment  which  still  continues 
(1921)  and  is  not  likely  to  subside  for  many  a  year.  Along 
the  shore  of  the  Baltic  sea  four  small  peoples,  the  Letts, 
the  Esthonians,  the  Lithuanians,  and  the  Finns,  asserted 
their  claims  to  statehood  and  have  set  up  governments 
in  which  the  moderate  elements  have  on  the  whole  proved 
themselves  stronger  than  the  extremists.  On  Russia's 
southern  border,  in  the  Caucasus,  the  three  new  states  of 
Georgia,  Armenia,  and  Azerbaijan  have  taken  shape  in  a 
sufficiently  precise  form  to  claim  recognition  as  independ- 
ent entities.  Encouraged  at  first  by  the  entente,  they  fell 
(192 1)  under  the  influence  of  Bolshevist  Russia  and  evi- 
dently have  many  dramatic  vicissitudes  still  before  them. 
The  picture  offered  by  Siberia's  vast  expanse  is  one  of 
steady,  if  not  always  violent,  upheaval.  Siberia  seems 
to  have  fallen  into  numerous  self-governing  units  which 
are  not  averse  to  maintaining  some  sort  of  a  connection 
with  Russia,  provided  their  local  development  is  not  ham- 
pered thereby.  On  Siberia's  Pacific  seaboard  imperialist 
Japan  creates  a  special  situation,  due  to  her  resolve  to  make 
the  most  of  Russia's  present  weakness  to  extend  and  fortify 
her  territorial  and  economic  interests.  By  its  political 
power  as  well  as  by  the  fiery  propaganda  which  it  conducts 
in  favor  of  its  economic  doctrine,  Bolshevist  Russia  ex- 
ercises a  spell  over  large  sections  of  the  population  of  the 
states  upon  its  border  and  far  beyond  its  border,  thus  tend- 
ing to  keep  alive  a  perpetual  social  ferment. 

Turning  to  central  Europe,  we  find  this  region  in  much 
the  same  plight  as  Russia.  In  the  new  German  republic 
proclauned  in  November,  1918,  there  have  been  many  revo- 
lutionary outbreaks,  promoted  sometimes  by  the  group 
of  socialists  which  leans  toward  Moscow,  sometimes  by 
the  deposed  militarists  and  Junkers.    The  government, 


The  War  and  the  Peace  599 


which  tries,  wisely  enough,  to  follow  a  middle  course,  has 
many  enemies  and  leads  a  precarious  existence.  Among 
the  many  crises  which  it  was  obliged  to  face  the  one  which 
shook  it  most  severely  arose  over  the  money  indemnity 
due  the  allies.  Adjourned  in  the  treaty  of  Versailles, 
the  indemnity  problem  spread  a  cloud  of  distrust  and 
anxiety  over  the  land  till  at  last  in  May,  192 1,  the  allies 
communicated  their  final  decision  and  gained  its  accep- 
tance with  a  threat  of  military  occupation  of  the  invaluable 
coal  and  iron  region  of  the  Ruhr.  The  sum  for  which 
Germany  was  Hable  was  fixed  at  130,000,000,000  gold 
marks  to  be  paid  in  annual  installments  spread  over 
many  years.  Since,  whether  Germany  can  meet  the 
annual  payments,  is  considered  doubtful,  the  conclusion 
of  this  business,  though  making  for  a  desirable  clarifica- 
tion, did  not  immediately  contribute  to  the  stabilization  of 
Europe's  disturbed  economic  life.  The  states  to  the  east 
and  south  of  Germany — Poland,  Czecho-Slovakia,  Austria, 
Hungary,  and  Jugo-Slavia — are  the  creatures  of  the  Paris 
conference  and  have  yet  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  stable 
government.  Some  of  them,  preeminently  Austria,  which 
hovers  perpetually  on  the  brink  of  starvation,  are  ex- 
traordinarily weak,  and  one  and  all  of  them  suffer  from 
disordered  finances  and  an  almost  complete  breakdown  of 
production  and  exchange. 

South-eastward  of  the  states  which  have  taken  over  the  Continued 
succession    of    the    Hapsburg    monarchy    stretches    the  Balkan'penin- 
Balkan  peninsula,  the  post-war  discomfort  of  which  we  |U|.^g^5"fu, 
have  already  noted;  and  beyond  the  Balkan  peninsula  lie  resistance  of 
in  distracting  confusion  the  disjecta  membra  of  the  defunct   the  treaty  of 
Ottoman  empire.     In  listing  the  world's  disturbed  areas 
we  may  note  again  that  the  treaty  of  Sevres,  a  masterpiece 
of  reckless  imperialism,  has  not  brought  heahng  in  its 
wings.    It  met  with  resistance  from  the  Arabs  of  Syria 


Sevres. 


6oo  The  War  and  the  Peace 

and    Mesopotamia,    desirous    of    controlling    their    own 
destiny,  and  from  the  Turks  of  Asia  Minor,  recalcitrant 
to  European  tutelage;  and,  in  the  face  of  this  native 
opposition,  it  has  only  in  part  been  carried  out.   Especially 
the  Turks  under  a  vigorous  national  leader,  Mustapha 
Kemal  Pasha,  have  thus  far  (192 1)  defeated  all  attempts 
to  bring  them  to  book;  nay,  by  cannily  joining  hands  with 
Bolshevist  Russia  they  have  gained  a  position  enabling 
them  openly  to  flout  the  orders  issued  from  Paris  and 
London.    This  emancipation  of  large  sections  of  the  Near- 
East  from  allied   control   is   very   disconcerting   to   the 
western  powers,  desirous  of  having  the  Paris  treaties  ac- 
cepted by  everybody  and  without  delay  as  the   official 
basis  of  a  new  world-order. 
The  continued        And  even  yet  we  have  not  completed  the  roster  of  the 
invites  inter-      regions  threatening  immediate  trouble.     The   empire  of 
ference  f^o™^^    China,  which  in  1 9 10  was  swept  by  the  universal  demo- 
powers.  cratic  tide,  and  which,  discarding  the  Manchu  dynasty, 

became  a  republic,  has  failed  to  win  peace  by  virtue  of  this 
transformation.  Grave  upheavals,  due  to  faction  within 
and  to  pressure  from  without,  have  followed  one  another 
in  unbroken  succession.  Already  the  victim  of  the 
covetousness  of  the  European  powers  and  latterly  of  her 
Asiatic  neighbor,  Japan,  China  must  presently  either 
organize  her  strength  or  face  the  consequences.  What 
they  will  be  the  recent  instances  of  Persia,  Morocco,  and 
the  Ottoman  empire  sufficiently  foreshadow. 
Troubles  of  the  Finally,  all  is  not  well  with  the  three  European  victor 
Freland.^'"^''"''  states,  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Italy.  Though  their 
ills,  to  be  fully  understood,  call  for  an  analysis  which  can 
not  be  attempted  here,  it  is  clear  that  a  large  part  of  their 
trouble  is  a  surfeit  of  imperialism.  This  appears  with 
particular  distinctness  in  the  case  of  the  far-flung  British 
empire.    Certain  groups,  notably  the  natives  of  Ireland, 


The  War  and  the  Peace  60 1 

Egypt,  and  India,  have  been  aroused  by  the  nationalism 
which  has  made  the  round  of  the  world  and  have  firmly, 
though  with  varying  intensity  of  feeling,  indicated  their 
intention  of  lea\Ting  the  British  fold.  In  Ireland  the  in- 
dependence movement  championed  by  the  republican  or 
Sinn  Fein  party  has  taken  on  the  proportions  of  a  war. 
All  three  regions  constitute  centers  of  unrest  which  not 
only  seriously  vex  the  repose  of  Great  Britain  but,  what 
is  more,  issue  a  challenge  to  the  whole  European  theory 
and  practice  of  imperialism. 

Compared  with  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  other  Disturbing 
countries  of  the  world  the  United  States  of  America  looks  withdrawal^of 
like  a  veritable  haven  of  rest.  Owing  to  its  vast  re-  s^^tes"frcm  the 
sources,  its  efficient  economic  organization,  and  its  active  affairs  of  Eu- 
and  intelligent  population  it  must  doubtless  figure  as  the 
main  factor  in  any  programme  of  world-wide  sanitation 
and  recovery.  And  yet  from  the  moment  that  President 
Wilson  set  foot  on  his  native  shore  with  the  treaty  of 
Versailles  in  his  pocket,  it  has  played  a  very  capricious 
role.  In  that  docimient  the  President  pledged  his  coun- 
try to  the  plan  of  world  organization  decreed  by  the 
victors.  He  reckoned  without  the  senate  and,  as  it 
turned  out,  without  the  American  people.  The  criticism 
of  the  President's  commitments,  begun  in  the  senate  and 
directed  chiefly  at  the  League  of  Nations,  was  taken  up 
by  a  large  section  of  the  press,  and  in  the  presidential 
election  of  November,  1920,  led  to  a  sweeping  repudia- 
tion of  the  nation's  chief  and  of  his  works.  The  senate's 
failure  to  enact  the  treaty  of  Versailles  even  peri:)etuated  till 
Jul>,  1921,  the  technical  state  of  war  between  the  United 
States  and  Germany.  Above  all,  the  unfriendly  attitude 
of  senate  and  people  to  the  Versailles  pact  has  imposed  on 
the  government  a  virtual  withdrawal  from  the  affairs  of 
Europe.    This  carries  with  it  a  weakening  of  the  authority 


6o2  The  War  and  the  Peace 

of  the  European  victors  and  removes  a  prop,  both  moral 
and  physical,  from  the  settlement  they  have  laid  down.  In- 
directly it  encourages  all  the  forces  and  agencies  which, 
on  one  score  or  another,  are  openly  or  secretly  opposed 
to  the  allies. 
The  pessimist's       The  purposc  of  the  chapters  of  this  book,  deahng  with 

view  of  the  _,  .        ,  .     ,  i  i  i 

present  crisis  of  r.urope  m  the  twentieth  century,  was  to  show  that  the 
tion"^^  '^^"  ^^^^  historically  considered,  was  nothing  more  or  less  than 
a  crisis  of  our  civilization.  Many  honest  but  simple- 
minded  people  expected  that  the  peace  would  iron  out 
all  difficulties  and  automatically  start  our  civilization, 
refreshed  and  strengthened,  on  a  new  stage  of  an  un- 
broken forward  march.  Expecting  too  much,  they  were 
correspondingly  disappointed.  Undeniably  the  crisis  of  our 
civilization  has  extended  into  the  period  after  the  war. 
But,  calmly  viewed,  is  that  continuation  good  and  suffi- 
cient cause  for  bitterness  and  blank  discouragemient?  Let 
us  state  the  case  for  the  pessimists  who,  after  all,  represent 
a  viewpoint  which  has  a  considerable  currency,  though 
rather  on  the  ancient  and  war-torn  continent  of  Europe 
than  in  a  youthful  and  buoyant  country  like  the  United 
States.  These  dejected  students  of  world  affairs  agree 
that  the  war  did  indeed  wipe  out  the  three  autocratic 
monarchies  of  Germany,  Austria,  and  Russia.  Admittedly 
a  triumph  of  democracy,  it  wrought  few  other  changes. 
As  an  examination  of  the  annual  budgets  of  the  great 
powers  shows,  militarism  and  navalism  are  to-day  even 
more  rampant  than  they  were  before  1914.  New 
wars  threaten  which  promise  to  make  the  horrors  of  the 
war  just  past  pale  before  the  wholesale  massacres  of  sol- 
diers and  civilians  resulting  from  new  and  more  deadly 
engines  of  destruction.  There  is  no  longer  any  assurance 
in  any  quarter  that  this  war  was  fought  to  end  war. 
Moreover,    imperialism,  which,  we   have   seen,    is   inti- 


The  War  and  the  Peace  603 

mately  tied  up  with  the  competition  inseparable  from  the 
capitalistic  regime,  and  which  has  been  chiefly  respon- 
sible for  the  conflicts  among  the  great  powers,  has  not 
undergone  the  slightest  transformation.  The  treaties  of 
Paris  are  grounded  in  imperialist  conceptions.  Again, 
nationalism,  that  much  vaunted  nineteenth  century  prin- 
ciple of  organization,  has  brought  a  certain  disappoint- 
ment in  its  train.  Triumphant  through  large  sections  of 
central  and  eastern  Europe  and  aspiring  to  achieve  an  early 
triumph  throughout  Asia,  it  has  thus  far  brought  about 
the  political  independence  of  numerous  submerged  small 
peoples.  But  has  it  made  for  peace?  That  is  another  story, 
and  up  to  the  present  at  least  we  must  regretfully  admit  that 
the  new  states  reared  on  the  wreckage  of  the  Hapsburg 
and  Romanoff  empires  regard  each  other  with  a  veno- 
mous animosity,  auguring  ill  for  the  future.  The  ex- 
pressive phrase  has  gained  currency  that  the  war  has 
Balkanized  the  larger  part  of  Europe.  And  finally,  there 
is  the  mirage  of  social  justice,  eagerly  pursued  by  all  the 
various  brands  of  socialists  but  by  the  communistic  group, 
the  Bolshevists,  with  positively  fanatic  fury.  The  tri- 
umph of  this  group  in  Russia  has  greatly  encouraged  the 
enemies  of  the  capitalistic  system  everywhere,  and  if 
Bolshevism,  considered  as  an  economic  system,  has  thus 
far  proved  a  failure,  the  fact  remains  that  the  capitalistic 
system  has  been  so  severely  shaken  by  the  strain  of  war 
and  is  obliged  to  carry  such  a  monstrous  burden  of  debt 
that  it  no  longer  enjoys  the  confidence  which  it  once  in- 
spired and  which  was  a  subtle  moral  factor  in  its  nine- 
teenth century  triumph. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  optimists  are  by  no  means  The  case  of  the 
at  a  loss  to  marshal  arguments  to  justify  their  faith  in  "P^""'*'- 
the  ability  of  our  battered  civilization  to  right   itself. 
Though,  in  view  of  the  incontrovertible  facts,  it  would  be 


6o4  The  War  and  the  Peace 

blank  stupidity  to  deny  a  crisis,  has  not  the  civilization 
of  Europe  weathered  many  a  storm  before  and  has  not  the 
European  man,  the/wmo  EuropcEus,  regularly  exhibited  the 
gifts  of  mind  and  heart  necessary  to  wrestle  with  the  evils 
that  have  successively  befallen  him  in  the  many  centuries 
of  his  existence?  Not  obstinacy  and  blindness,  but  thought, 
insight,  and  energy  are  what  are  wanted  and  these  can 
be  summoned  by  the  individual  if  he  but  will.  Let  him, 
first  of  all,  try  to  grasp  the  situation  in  all  its  vastness 
and  detail.  Let  him  be  sure  he  understands  that  the 
main  evil  is  the  international  anarchy  which  afflicts  the 
world  in  the  form  of  a  piratical  imperialism,  and  that  it 
must  at  whatever  cost  give  way  to  an  ideal  of  peace  and 
order.  Such  other  factors  in  the  situation  as  capitalism, 
socialism,  militarism,  and  nationalism,  he  must  see  as 
they  are  and  evalue  from  the  point  of  view  of  a  future 
world  organization.  To  play  his  due  part  he  must  be  not 
only  alert  and  intelligent  according  to  his  ability  but 
also  ready,  while  fully  guarding  his  independence,  to  ac- 
cept the  leadership  of  the  best  minds  occupied  with  the 
problems  of  the  state  and  of  society.  In  a  word,  the 
reasonable  optimist,  stirred  by  the  trumpet  call  of  life, 
invites  us  not  to  be  discouraged  and  pusillanimous  be- 
cause our  civilization  is  threatened  with  disaster,  but 
rather  to  lend  a  hand  and  salvage  what  we  can  and  must 
if  the  historical  continuity,  on  which  our  whole  boasted 
progress  rests,  is  not  to  be  sacrificed  by  a  suicidal  leap  into 
the  dark.  The  moral  and  spiritual  satisfactions  which  our 
forefathers,  whether  in  Europe  or  America,  have  cherished 
as  the  highest  prize  of  existence,  can  not  be  won  by  tame 
acquiescence  in  conditions  acknowledged  to  be  evil  but 
only  through  activity.  It  was  a  courageous  activity  un- 
fiaggingly  continued,  as  this  book  has  shown,  through  a 
long  chain  of  generations,  which  resulted  in  the  civilization 


The  War  and  the  Peace  605 

constituting  Europe's  claim  to  greatness.  If  this  typically 
occidental  activity,  ever  eager  for  fresh  experience,  does 
not  fail  nor  the  deep  faith  in  life  by  M^hich  it  is  fed  as  from 
an  ever-bubbling  spring,  the  new  generation,  just  girding 
its  loins  for  the  struggle,  may  confidently  hope  that,  in- 
stead of  viewing  the  end  of  civilization  and  the  twilight  of 
the  gods,  it  is  born  to  participate  in  a  new  and  more 
glorious  phase  of  human  achievement. 


APPENDIX    A 

A    BRIEF    LIST    OF     SPECIALLY    RECOMMENDED 

BOOKS 

(The  following  books,  which  may  be  purchased  at  a  total 
expense  of  $25-30,  are  selected  with  reference  to  the  needs 
of  the  student  who  desires  to  acquire  a  small,  serviceable 
library  of  Modern  History.) 

I.  The  Renaissance  (1300-1500}. 

The  Cambridge  Modern  History.  Volume  I.  The  Renais- 
sance. Macmillan.  New  York.  $4.00.  The  most  com- 
prehensive and  scientific  account  of  this  period  in  the  English 
language. 


2.  The  Reformation  (1500-1648). 

The  Cambridge  Modern  History.  Volume  II.  The  Ref- 
ormation. Macmillan.  New  York.  $4.00.  Holds  the  same 
place  in  its  field  as  the  volume  on  the  Renaissance  spoken  of 
above.  Volume  III.  of  this  publication,  entitled  The  Wars  of 
Religion,  carries  the  narrative  through  the  next  stage,  but  is 
not  so  indispensable  as  Volume  II. 

Ephraira  Emerton.  Desiderius  Erasmus.  Putnam.  New 
York.  $1.50.  A  broad  and  sympathetic  interpretation  of 
the  world  of  humanism  and  of  its  northern  leader. 

Gustav  Freytag.  Martin  Luther.  Open  Court  Company. 
Chicago.     $0.25. 

Frederic  Harrison.  William  the  Silent.  Macmillan.  New 
York.  $0.75.  A  simple  and  open-minded  bioofraphy  of  the 
great  Dutch  hero. 

607 


6o8  Appendix  A 


3.  The  Absolute  Monarchy  (1648-1789). 

H.  O.  Wakeman.  The  Ascendancy  oj  France  in  Europe. 
Macmillan.  New  York.  $1.40.  This  volume  traces  success- 
fully the  organization  of  the  French  monarchy  and  analyzes 
the  contributions  made  by  Henry  IV.,  Richelieu,  Mazarin, 
and  Louis  XIV. 

4.  Revolution  and  Democracy  (i 789-1906). 

The  Cambridge  Modern  Histo:-y.  Volume  VIII.  The 
French  Revolution.  Macmillan.  New  York.  $4.00.  Not 
even  in  French  is  there  a  work  superior  in  scholarship,  and 
certainly  none  exists  which  can  compare  with  it  in  dispas- 
sionate treatment. 

R.  M.  Johnston.  Napoleon,  A  Short  Biography.  Barnes. 
New  York.  $1.00.  Contains  all  the  matter  suitable  to  a 
first  view.  Students  who  have  a  special  interest  in  Napoleon 
should  go  to  Fournier,  Rose,  and  Volume  IX.  of  the  Cam- 
bridge Modern  History. 

Charles  Seignobos.  Political  History  of  Europe  Since 
1814.  Edited  by  S.  M.  Macvane.  Holt.  New  York.  $3.00. 
Unnecessarily  dry  and  statistical,  but  containing  more  impor- 
tant material  than  any  other  single  volume. 


5.  Histories  of  Single  States  and  Nations. 

E.  F.  Henderson.  A  Short  History  0}  Germany.  2  vol- 
umes. Macmillan.  New  York.  $4.00.  An  interesting  and 
well-balanced  presentation  with  particular  attention  directed 
to  the  Reformation,  Frederick  the  Great,  and  Bismarck. 

Benjamin  Terry.  A  History  of  England.  Scott,  Fores- 
man.  Chicago.  $1.50.  This  work  lays  stress  on  the  con- 
stitutional development  without  neglecting  other  factors  of 
the  national  life. 

6.  Source  Materials. 

J.  H.  Robinson.  Readings  in  European  History.  2  vol- 
umes.    Ginn.     Boston.     $1.50   each.     These    volumes    con- 


Appendix  A  609 


tain  excellently  selected  materials,  calculated  to  give  the 
student  a  direct,  first-hand  impression  of  a  particular  period. 
Adams  and  Stephens.  Select  Documents  Illustrative  of 
English  Constitutional  History.  Macmillan.  New  Yorh. 
$2.25.  An  excellent  supplement  to  Terry's  History  of  Eng- 
land, as  it  gives  the  most  important  documents  bearing  upon 
the  growth  and  organization  of  the  English  monarchy. 


APPENDIX   B 

CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  THE  POPES  FROM 
THE   RENAISSANCE   TO   THE   PRESENT   DAY 

The  Popes  are  elected  by  the  cardinals  in  a  solemn  session 
called  conclave.  Since  Hadrian  VI.,  who  was  bom  in  the 
Netherlands,  all  Popes  have  been  Italians.  Note  that  the 
Popes  from  Nicholas  V.  (1447)  to  Paul  IV.  (1555)  form  the 
group  of  Renaissance  Popes  characterized  on  pages  33-34  and 
97-98. 


1447. 

Nicholas  V. 

1605. 

Paul  V.  (Borghese) 

1455- 

Calixtus  III.  (Borgia) 

1621. 

Gregory  XV.   (Ludo- 

1458. 

Pius  II.  (Piccolomini) 

visi) 

1464. 

Paul  II. 

1623. 

Urban     VIII.     (Bar- 

1471- 

Sixtus  IV.  (Rovere) 

berini) 

1484. 

Innocent  VIII. 

1644. 

Innocent  X.  (Pamfili) 

1493- 

Alexander   VI.    (Bor- 

1655- 

Alexander  VII.  (Chi- 

gia) 

gi) 

1503- 

Pius  III. 

1667. 

Clement  IX. 

1503- 

Julius  II.  (Rovere) 

1670. 

Clement  X. 

1513- 

Leo  X.  (Medici) 

1676. 

Innocent  XL 

1522. 

Hadrian  VI. 

1689. 

Alexander  VIIL 

1523- 

Clement   VII.   (Med- 

1691. 

Innocent  XII. 

ici) 

1700. 

Clement  XL 

1534. 

Paul  III.  (Farnese) 

1720. 

Innocent  XIIL 

1550- 

Julius  III. 

1724. 

Benedict  XIIL 

1555- 

Marcellus  II. 

1740. 

Benedict  XIV. 

1555- 

Paul  IV.  (Caraflfa) 

1758- 

Clement  XII. 

1559- 

Pius  IV. 

1769. 

Clement  XIIL 

1566. 

Pius  V. 

1775- 

Pius  VL 

1572. 

Gregory  XIII. 

1800. 

Pius  VII. 

1585. 

Sixtus  V. 

1823. 

Leo  XII. 

1590- 

Urban  VII. 

1829. 

Pius  VIIL 

1590. 

Gregory  XIV. 

1831. 

Gregory  XVI. 

1591- 

Innocent  IX. 

1846. 

Pius  IX. 

1592. 

Clement  VIII. 

1878. 

Leo  XIIL 

1605. 

Leo  XL 

1903. 

Pius  X. 

610 


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APPENDIX   D 

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A  complete  list  of  the  books  mentioned  under  the  chapter 
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Carlyle,  Thomas.  Cromwell's  Letters  and  Speeches. 
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Fiske,  John.  The  Discovery  of  America.  2  vols.  1899. 
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Garibaldi,  Giuseppe.  Autobiography.  3  vols.  Translated 
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Gindely,  Anton.  History  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  2  vols. 
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Green,  J.  R.  A  Short  History  of  the  English  People.  Re- 
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Harrison,  Frederic.  William  the  Silent.  (Foreign  States- 
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Hassall,  Arthur.  Louis  XIV.  (Heroes  of  the  Nations.) 
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Hassall,  Arthur.  The  Balance  of  Power.  1715-89. 
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Hazen,  Chas.  Downer.  Contemporary  American  Opinion 
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Henderson,  E.  F.  A  Short  History  of  Germany,  2  vols. 
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Hoist,  H.  E.  von.  The  French  Revolution  Tested  by 
Mirabeau's  Career.   2  vols.   1894.   Callaghan.  Chicago.  $3.50- 

Hughes,  T.  A.  Loyola  and  the  Educational  System  of  the 
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of  the  Nations.)     1901.     Putnam.     New  York.     $2.00. 

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Close  of  the  Middle  Ages  (goes  to  1580).  Translated  from 
the  German.     8  vols.     Kegan  Paul.     London.     $19.00. 

Jessopp,  Augustus.  The  Coming  of  the  Friars.  1901. 
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Johnson,  A.  H.  Europe  in  the  Sixteenth  Century,  1494- 
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Kennan,  George.  Siberia  and  the  Exile  System.  2  vols. 
1894.     Century  Co.     New  York.     $6.00. 

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King  and  Okey.  Italy  To-day.  1901.  J.  Nisbet.  Lon- 
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Kitchin,  G.  W.  History  of  France.  (Closes  with  1792.) 
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Lea,  H.  C.  A  History  of  Auricular  Confession  and  In- 
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Lea,  H.  C.  A  History  of  the  Inquisition  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
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Lecky,  W.  E.  H.  History  of  England  in  the  Eighteenth 
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Longman,  F.  W.  Frederick  the  Great.  (Epochs  of  Mod- 
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636 


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Parkman,  Francis.  Half  Century  of  Conflict.  2  vols. 
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Seventeenth  Century. 

Parkman,  Francis. 


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Rgmusat,  Madame  de.  Memoirs.  3  vols.  1880.  Apple- 
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Seeley,  J.  R.  Life  and  Times  of  Stein,  or  Germany  and 
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Universitv  Press.     $5.00. 


638 


Appendix  D 


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1894.     Holt.     New  York.     $1.75. 

Taine,  H.  A.  The  Ancient  Regime.  1896.  Holt.  New 
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Taine,  H.  A.  The  French  Revolution.  3  vols.  1878-85. 
Holt.     New  York.     $7.50. 

Taine,  H.  A.  The  Modern  Regime.  2  vols.  1890-94. 
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Terry,  Benjamin.  A  History  of  England.  1901.  Scott, 
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Appendix  D  639 


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Thayer,  W.  R.  Dawn  of  Italian  Ind,ipendence  (1814- 
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Tocqueville,  Alexis  de.  State  of  Society  in  France  before 
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Traill,  H.  D.,  and  Mann,  J.  S.,  Ed.  Social  England.  6  vols. 
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Translations  and  Reprints  from  the  Original  Sources  of 
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Translated  by  Linda  Villari.  1899.  Scribner,  New  York. 
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Wace,  H.,  and  Buckheim,  C.  A.  Luther's  Primary  Works. 
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640 


Appeyidix  D 


"Whitcomb,  Merrick.  Literary  Source  Book  of  the  Italian 
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Whitman,  Sidney.  Imperial  Germany:  A  Critical  Study  of 
Fact  and  Character.      1901.     Chautauqua  Press.     $0.75. 

Whitman,  Sidney.     Personal  Reminiscences  of  Prince  Bis 
marck.     1903.     Appleton.     New  York.     $1.60. 

Whitman,  Sidney.  The  Realm  of  the  Hapsburgs.  1893. 
W.  Heinemann.     London.     $1.50. 

Wilhehnine,  Margravine  of  Baireuth.  Memoirs.  Harper. 
New  York.     $1.25. 

Willert,  P.  F.  Henry  of  Navarre  and  the  Huguenots  in 
France.    (Heroes  of  the  Nations.)    1893.    Putnam,    New  York. 

$1.50. 

Willert,  P.  F.  Mirabeau.  (Foreign  Statesmen.)  1905. 
Macmillan.     New  York.     $0.75. 

Young,  Arthur.  Travels  in  France,  (Bohn's  Library) 
1890.     Macmillan.     New  York,     $1.00. 

Zwingli,  Huldreich.  Selections  from  the  Writings  of. 
Edited  by  S.  M.  Jackson.  1901,  Longmans,  Green.  New 
York.     $1,25. 


INDE^t 


INDEX 


Abukir  Bay,  battle  of,  387 

Academy  of  France,  202 

Act  of  Union  with  Ireland  (English). 

340,  486 
Adrianople,  Treaty  of,  426 
Africa,  79,  114,487-89.  504,  507-8, 

520,  526;  partition  of,  542-43 
Aix-la-ChapeUe,    Peace    of    (166S), 

280;  (1748),  315,  333,  335 
Ajaccio,  385 

Albania  (Albanians),  493,  496,  561 
Albert,  Prince  of  Saxe-Coburg,  490 
Albigenses,  54,  60,  loi 
Alexander  I.  of  Russia,  398,  404-6, 

418-19,  491-9^ 
Alexander  II.  of  Russia,  492,  496, 

500-r 
Alexander  III.  of  Russia,  498,  501 
Alexander  VI.,  Pope,  22,  34 
Alexander,     prince    of    Battenberg 

497-98 
Alfonso  XII.  of  Spain,  518  [550 

Algiers,  as  stepping-stone  to  Tunis, 
Algiers,  508 

Alsace,   224,   282,   476;   acquired   by 
Germany,  477  [589 

Alsace-Lorraine,  549;  ceded  to  France, 
Alva,  duke  of,  164-68 
America,  11-15,  337-38,  480 
American  colonies,  339,  480 
Amiens,  Peace  of,  390,  394,  399 
Amsterdam,  176,  280,  281 
Ancien  regime,  352,  361 
Angelo,  Michael,  18,  22 
AngoulSme,  duke  of,  422 
Annam,  507 

Anne  of  Austria,   queen  of  France, 
274 


Anne  of  England,  327-30 
Anthony,  king  of  Navarre,  186,  188 

189 
Antwerp,  169,  172 
Areola,  battle  of,  384 
Armada,  Spanish,  114,  153-54 
"Armed  peace,"  538 
Armenia  (Armenians),  498,  596 
Army,  in  Thirty  Years'  War,  213-14; 

Grand,  of  Napoleon,  405-6 
Arras,  Union  of,  170 
Artois,  76,  170,  276;  count  of,  357, 

429 
Assembly,    Federal,   of   Switzerland, 

523 
Assembly,    in     French     Revolution, 

354-^4;     later,     442-44,     458-59, 

478-79.  505 
Asia,  European  occupation  of,  542- 

43 

Assignats,  361,  386 

Auerstadt,  batt'e  of,  397 

Augsburg,  Diet  of  (1530),  77;  con- 
fession of,  77;  Peace  of  (1555),  82- 
83,  203,  224;  in  Thirty  Years' 
War,  226 

Augustenburg.  duke  of,  proclaimed 
in  Schleswig-Holstein,  470 

August  the  Strong,  king  of  Poland 
(also  Elector  of  Saxony),  295-97, 
298 

Austerlitz,  395 

Australia,  487 

Austria,  acquires  Bosnia  and  Herze- 
govina,497, 515;  allied  with  France, 
317-19.  337,  404;  at  the  Congress 
of  Vienna,  415-19;  Austrian  Suc- 
cession War,  313-15,  333,  335,  336; 


643 


644 


Index 


Bohemia  and,  206-10,  315-15,  318, 
449,  453.  472;  dual  empire  of, 
512-15;  France  and,  rivalry  with, 
197,  199,  201,  207,  212,  222,  284, 

387,  313-15.  317.  323,  335-36; 
Germany  and,  204-25,  313-15. 
317-18,  322,  345-57,  368-78; 
Hungarj'  and,  449,  452-54,  512-15; 
Italy  and,  415,  417,  421,  433,  462- 
63,  466,  471-72;  opposes  French 
Revolution  and  Napoleon,  365-66, 

369,  371,  381,  383-S5.  387-90, 
395-96,  399,  403-4,  407-9;  Poland 
and,  300,  321,  381,  403;  policy  of 
intervention,  419,  421,  433,  455-56; 
races  in,  448-49,  453.  5^2,  5M; 
revolution  (1848),  449-59;  rivalry 
with  Prussia,  308,  312-22,  415, 
455-57,  466,  471-72;  Russia  and, 
317,  318,  511,  515;  Seven  Years' 
War  and,  317-21,  337;  Triple  Al- 
liance, 504,  507,  511,  515 
Austrian    Succession    War,     313-15, 

333,  335 
Austria-Hungary,  512-15 
AtUo-da-je,  40 
Azores,  520 
Azov,  292,  293,  297 

Bacon, Francis, 1 56;  impeachment  of , 

237 
Bade.i,  396,  417-18,  434 
Balance  of  power,  327,  398,  409,  416, 

426,  432-33,  494.   495,  496,  499. 
550-52,  556,  561;  see    Congress    of 
Vienna,  Congress  of  Berlin,  etc. 
Balkans,  493-99 
Barebone's  Parliament,  257 
Barons,  feudal,  see  Nobles 
Barneveldt,  John  of,  175 
Barras,  French  Director,  382-83 
Basel,  Peace  of,  381,  396 
Bastille,  destruction  of,  357 
Batavian  Republic,  381,  385,  394 
Bavaria,  in  Thirty  Years'  War,  205, 
209-11,  219,  225;  Napoleon  and, 
395-96;  Austrian  Succession  War, 


313-14;   Austrian  attempt  to  ab- 
sorb,   322;    kingdom    of,    395-96, 
417;  acquires  Salzburg,  403;  revo- 
lution, 1830,  434 
Bayonne,  Napoleon  at,  401-2 
Bazaine,  Marshal,  surrenders  Metz 

to  Prussians,  477 
"Beggars"  of  Netherlands,  164,  167 
Belgium,  157,  159,  170,  525-36;  ^ee 
Netherlands;   annexed  to  France, 
381;  ceded  by  Austria  to  France, 
384;    with    Holland    merged    into 
kingdom  of  the  Netherlands,  516, 
524;  kingdom  of,  432-33,  524,  525- 
26;  neutrality  violated,  566 
Berg,  399 

Berlin  and  Bagdad  line,  560;  Congress 
of  (1878),  496-97.  507.   515;  De- 
crees of,  400;  Napoleon  occupies, 
397;  revolution  (1848),  446,  454 
Bernadotte,  Marshal,  528 
Berri,  duke  of,  429;  duchess  of,  439 
Bill  of  Rights,  English,  272,  323,  327 
Bishops'  War,  First,  247;  Second,  248 
Bismarck,  Prince,  Prime  Minister  of 
Prussia,     469-78;     contest     with 
Prussian       Parliament,       469-70; 
Schleswig-Holstein  affair,  470-71; 
War  with  Austria,  471-72;  organ- 
izes   North    German    Confedera- 
tion, 472-73;  Franco-Prussian  War 
473-77;  achieves  unity  of  Germany, 
477-78;  Chancellor  of  the  Empire, 
508-11;   foreign  policy  after  1 871, 
548-50 
Blenheim,  battle  of,  286  [Judge 

Bloody    Assizes,    270;    see    Jeffreys, 
Bliicher,  Marshal,  411 
Boers,  48S-89 

Bohemia  (and  Austria),  313-14,  472; 
Hussite  revolt  in,  206;  Reforma- 
tion in,  206;  Thirty  Years'  War, 
207,  208-10;  Austrian  Succession 
War,  313-14;  Seven  Years'  War, 
318 
Boleyn,  Anne,  126,  129,  132 
Bonaparte,  House  erf,  443 


Index 


645 


Bciiaparte,  Jerome,  kingdom  of 
Westphalia  given,  398 

Bonaparte,  Joseph,  Naples  given, 
399;  king  of  Spain,  402,  422 

Bonaparte,  Louis,  made  king  of 
Holland,  394;  abdication,  404-S 

Bonaparte,  Napoleon, 5ee  Napoleon  I. 

Bora,  Catharine  von,  72 

Borgia,  Caesar,  22,  34 

Boroughs  in  England,  482-84 

Bosnia,  497.  S^S.  557.  560-61,  563 

Bothwell,  earl  of,  151 

Boulanger,  General,  506 

Boulogne,  Napoleon's  naval  arma- 
ment at,  395 

Bourbon,  duke  of,  76 

Bourbon,  House  of,  186,  193,  194, 
207,  212,  222,  285,  327,  375,  417, 
420,  428,  431,  439.  465,  475.  505. 
516-18;  rivalry  with  House  of 
Hapsburg,  179,  207,  212,  222,  284, 

317 

Bourgeoisie,  430,  438-4O;  ruling  part 
in  modern  civilization,  538-41 

Boyne,  battle  of  the,  325,  326 

Brabant,  is7,  '59 

Braganza,  House  of,  116,  519-20 

Brandenburg  (Prussia),  302-9; 
Thirty  Years'  War,  218-19,  225- 
26,  305;  beginnini;s  of,  302-3; 
Spanish  Succession  War,  309 

Brazil,  401,  420,  519-20 

Breitenfeld,  battle  of,  219 

Breslau,  Peace  of,  314 

Bright,  John,  485 

Brill,  capture  of,  167-68 

British  Empire,  expansion  of,  487-90 

Brunswick,  duke  of,  397;  proclama- 
tion of,  366;  retreat  at  Valmy,  369 

Brussels,  158,  161,  165,  432 

Buckingham,  duke  of,  238-39,  241- 

43 
Bulgaria,  493,  497-98,  499;  in  Balkan 

wars,  561-62;  in  world-war,  574,  58a 

bund,   418,   433-34,   435.   446,   447, 

456,  470.  473 
Bundesraih,  473 


Bunyan,  John,  273 

Burgundy,  duchy  of,  35,  76,  77,  79, 

157,  158 
Bute,  Lord,  338 
Byron,  Lord,  425 

Cabinet  government  in  England,  331, 

480 
Cabot,  John,  12,  15,  43 
Calais,  122,  140,  162,  184 
Calendar,French  Revolutionary,379- 

80,  note 
Calmar,  Union  of  (1397).  86 
Calvinism,  94-97,  203-4,  225,  240 
Calvin,  John,  91-97,  i8-';  in  Geneva, 

92-94;  his  church,  94-96;  theology 

of,  96-97 
Cambray,  Ladies'  Peace  of  (1529),  77 
Campeggio,  papal  legate,  127 
Campo  Formio,  Peace  of,  384 
Canada,  338,  487 
Canning,  George,  422-23,  426,  481- 

82 
Carlists,  party  in  Spain,  517 
Carlos,  Don,  Spanish  pretender,  517 
Carlsbad  decrees,  434 
Carnot,    organizes   French    army    of 

defence,  373,  381;  member  of  the 

Directory,  383 
Castlereagh,  English  minister,  481 
Cateau-Cambresis,    Peace    of,    113, 

162,  183,  184 
Catherinede' Medici, 187, 188, 190-92 
Catherine  of  Aragon,  125-29 
Catherine   11.   of    Russia,   299-301, 

k      320 
Catholic  League  in  France,  193,  194, 

19s.  197 
Catholic  League,  of  Germany,  205, 

209,  210,  212,  213,  215,  218 
Catholic     Reformation,      105;      see 

Counter  Reformation 
Catholics,  in  England,  266-67,  269, 

482 
Catholicism,  82,  86,  91,  102,  144,  146, 

153,  203,  208,  225,  227,  235,  265, 

267,  392,  451 


646 


Index 


Cavalier  Parliament,  263-64,  268 

Cavaliers,  250,  273 

Cavour,  Prime  Minister  of  Piedmont, 

462-66 
Celts,  334,  432 
Centre,  clerical   party  in    Germany, 

509 
Cervantes,  118 
Chamber  of  Deputies,  French,  428> 

430>  431.  440,  441.  505 
Chamber  of  Peers,  French,  428 
Chambord,  count  of,  505 
Charlemagne,  25,  412 
Charles    Albert,    king    of    Sardinia, 

449-50;  defeated  at  Novara,  450 
Charles,  Archduke  (Austrian  general) , 

384 

Charles  Edward  Stuart  ("Prince 
Charlie"),  333-34 

Charles  V.,  Emperor  of  Germany 
(Charles  I.,  king  of  Spain),  28; 
rivalry  with  Francis  I.,  31,  71,  76, 
179;  extent  of  dominions,  28, 
37-38,  71;  elected  emperor,  28,  70; 
Reformation  and,  70-72,  77-78, 
79-84,  103;  French-Spanish  wars, 
31.  36,  75-77.  79.  162;  Protestant 
wars,  80-81;  abdicates  crown,  83, 
161 

Charles  VI.,  Emperor  (Archduke 
Charles  of  Austria),  286,  287,  312, 

Charles  VII.,  Emperor  (Charles  of 

Bavaria),  313-15 
Charles  I.  of  England,  199,  239-55; 

domestic  troubles,  240-41,  242-44, 

247-49;  foreign  disasters,  242;  and 

Scodand,  247-48,  252-54;  appeal 

to  arms,  250-55 
Charles  II.  of  England,  261-68,  280, 

281;  character  of,  261-62;  foreign 

policy,  265-67 
Charles    VIII.    of    France,    invades 

Italy  (1494),  30.  36,  38,  178 
Charles  IX.  of  France,  188,  190-92 
Charles  X.  of  France,  429-31 
Charles  I.  of  Roumania,  497 


Charles  I.  of  Spain  (Charles  V., 
emperor),  rules  for  personal  ends, 
107-8;  drains  resources  of  Spain, 
109 

Charles  II.  of  Spain,  284,  327 

Charles  IV.  of  Spaia,  401 

Charles  XII.  of  Sweden,  294-98;  see 
Peter  I.,  the  Great,  of  Russia 

Charles,  prince  of  HohenzoUern- 
Sigmaringen,  495;  see  Charles  I. 
of  Roumania 

Charles  the  Bold,  of  Burgundy,  28, 

157 
China,  spoliation  of,  600 
Christian  IV.  of  Denmark,  212 
Christian  IX.  of  Denmark,  470-71; 

527 

Christian,  prince  of  Gliicksburg,  456; 
see  Christian  IX.  of  Denmark 

Christina,  queen  of  Sweden,  221,  294 

Church,  medijeval,  44-55;  organiza- 
tion and  power,  45-50;  clergy,  46- 
47,  53;  sacraments,  51-52;  heresy, 
53-54,  102;  reform  in,  97-98,  105; 
Roman,  67,  97,  loi,  104,  193,  204, 
205,  289;  feudalism  in,  46-47, 
346-48;  States  of,  see  Papal  States 

Church  of  England  (or  Anglican 
Church),  establishment,  119-56, 
144;  Act  of  Supremacy,  129,  138, 
144;  Six  Articles,  132;  Prayer  Book, 

134,  135.  143.  144,  247.  256,  264; 
Forty-two  Articles  of  Religion,  135; 
Act  of  Uniformity,  143,  144,  264; 
Thirty-nine  Articlesof  Religion,  144 

Cisalpine  Republic,  384-85,  394 

Cities  or  towns,  mediaeval,  struggle 
for  political  freedom,  8,  23-24;  in 
Italy,  7-9,  18;  in  Spain,  38;  in 
Germany,  9 

Clement  VII.,  Pope,  127 

Clergy,  organization  and  power,  45- 
50;  constitute  f.rst  estate  of  feudal 
society,  47.  346;  corruption,  53,  64, 
98,  347-48;  property  confiscated  ia 
France,  361;  in  France,  506-7;  in 
Germany,  509 


Index 


647 


Cleves  acquired  by  Brandenburg,  304 

Clive,  Lord,  338 

Cobden,  Richard,  485 

Cochin  China,  see  China 

Code  Napoleon,  393 

Colbert.  378 

Colet.  John,  120 

Colijjny,  Gaspard  de,  190-93 

Colloden  Moor,  battle  of,  334 

Committee  of  Public  Safety,  372-73, 

376,  378,  3^0 

Commons,  House  of,  41 ;  contest  with 
king,  236-37,  371-72;  representa- 
tion in,  482-83,  485 

Commonwealth,  English,  256-61 

Commune^'  of  Italy,  7-10;  political 
freedom,  8;  extent  of  activity,  9; 
influence  of  Crusades,  9;  com- 
mercid  rivals,  10 

Concordat,  Napoleon's,  392;  re- 
pealed, 507 

Cond6,  Louis,  prince  of,  186,  189-90 

Conde,  Louis,  prince  of  (the  Great 
Cond6),  233,  280,  385 

Confederation  of  the  Rhine,  396,  399, 

403,  407  (544,  567 

Confusion,  due  to  imperialist  rivalries, 
Congo  Free  State,  526 
Conservative  Party,  in  Great  Britain, 

368,  484,  485,  487 
Constantinople,  301,  436,  461,  4S9, 

494,  499>5S9.S95 
Constitutionalism,    421,    434,     435, 

443,  446,  454,  5" 
Constitution  of  the  Clergy ,  French  ,392 
Consulate,  French,  388-94 
Continental    System    of    Napoleon, 

400-1,  404 
Conventicle  Act,  of  England,  264 
Copernicus,  19,  533 
Corday,  Charlotte,  374 
Cordeliers,  French  Chib,  360 
Corneille,  202,  288 
Corn  Laws  (English),  repealed,  4S5 
Corsica,  ceded  to  France,  385 
Cortes  of  Spain,  38,  108,  116 
Corvie,  350,  361 


Council  of  Blood,  165 

CouncQ  of  Five  Hundred  (France), 

383,  388 
Council  of  the  Ancients  (France),  383 
Councils  of  the  Church,  General,  80; 

of  Constance,  55;  of  Trent,  102-4; 

of  the  Vatican,  104 
Counter    Reformation,    97-106;    set 

Catholic    Reformation;     agencies, 

101-2;  becomes  aggressive,  105-6; 

in  Germany,  204 
Coup    d'etat    of    Napoleon,    388;    of 

CharlesX.,430;  of  Louis  Napoleon, 

459-60 
Cranmer,  Thomas,  Archbishop,  129, 

^33,  134,  140 

Crespy,  Peace  of,  79 

Crete,  425,  498 

Crimean  War,  461-62,  489 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  250-61,  262;  con- 
quers Scotland,  256;  subdues 
Ireland,  256;  Lord  Protector,  257- 
61;  foreign  wars,  259-60 

Cromwell,  Thomas,  130-32 

Crusades,  influence  on  commerce, 
9—10 

Cuba,  518-19 

Custozza,  battle  of,  466,  472 

Czaslau,  battle  of,  314 

Czechs,  206,  449,  452,  453,  512 

Danton,  360,  363,  368,  370,  378 

Dardanelles,  293 

Darnley,  Lord,  150 

Da  Vinci,  Leonardo;  see  Vinci,  Leo- 
nardo da 

Declaration  of  Indulgence,  English, 
266,  269-70 

Democracy,  reaction  against,  414-37, 

433,  436-37,  449-50.  452-57; 
progress  of,  530-31,  538-4I 
Denmark,  government  of,  527;  Nor- 
way and,  86,  528;  Prussia  and,  448, 
470-71;  Schleswig-Holstein  affair, 
447-48,  456,  470-71.  527;  Sweden 
and,  86,  294-95;  Thirty  Years* 
War,  212-16 


648 


Index 


Diderot,  351 

Directory,  French,  383-88 

Discovery,  Age  of,  10-13 

Disraeli,  Conservative  minister,  485 

Dissenters,  in  England,  264,  266,  269, 
272,  482 

Divine  Right,  theory  of,  232-33,  269, 
271,  272 

Doctrine,  of  works,  51-52,  66;  of 
justification  by  faith,  66,  180;  of 
predestination,  96 

Donauworth,  affair  of,  205 

Don  John  of  Austria,  115 

Dover,  Treaty  of,  266-67,  280,  281 

Dragonnades,  282 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  152,  155,  173 

Dresden,  Peace  of,  315 

Drogheda,  massacre  of,  256 

Dryden,  John,  273 

Dual  Alliance,  507,  511,  550-51 

Duma,  Russian  Assembly,  501 

Dumouriez,  369 

Dunbar,  battle  ef,  256 

Dunkirk,  260 

Dutch  Republic,  170-77,  222;  com- 
mercial fKJwer,  176,  259,  266;  art 
and  science,  176-77;  colonies  of, 
176,  265,  525 

Dutch,  see  Holland 

East  IndiaCompany, English,  239,488 
Ecclesiastical  Reservation,  82,  203 
Edward  VI.  of  England,  133-37 
Edward  VII.  of  England,  490 
Egmont,  count  of,  163,  165 
Egypt,  386-87,  494-95.  499,  554 
Elba,  Naj)oleon  at,  409-10 
Elizabeth  of  England,  141-56,  231; 
character  as  woman,  141;  as  states- 
man, 142;  religious  p)olicy,  142-45, 
148;    relations    to    Mary    Stuart, 
queen  of  Scots,  146,  151-53;  aids 
the  Protestants,  152,  172-73;  last 
years,  154-55 
Elizabeth  of  Russia,  320 
Emancipation    BiU,    Catholic    (Eng- 
lish), 482,  486 


Emigres,  357.  365,  429,  431 
Emperor,  election  of,  26;  weakness 
of,  27-28;   Napoleon  and  title  of, 

396 

Empire,  of  France,  under  Napoleon 
I.,  394-412;  under  Napoleon  III., 
460-67,  474-76 

England,  40-43>  "9-56,  23i-73> 
323-40;  American  War,  339;  and 
the  Dutch,  172-73,  259,  265-67, 
280,  283,  285,  336;  Austrian  Suc- 
cession War,  315,  317,  333,  335; 
church  and  religious  freedom  in, 
128-32,  133-35,  138,  143-46,  234, 
240-41,  245,  249,  252,  255,  263-64, 
266,  267,  482;  colonies  of,  15,  43, 
239.  287,  330,  332,  336-39,  416, 
480,  487-90;  constitutional  mon- 
archy, 41-42,  232-33,  236-37,  242- 
44,  248-49,  255,  269-70,  271-72, 
327-29,  331;  France  and,  122-24, 
140,  142-48,  151,  242,  265-67, 
380-81,  283-87,  317-18,  323-40, 
37^,  381,  386-90,  395,  399-400, 
402-3,  409,  411,  416,  426,  480-81, 
489,  508,  511;  government  of.  41— 
42,  232,  323,  327-28,  480-83; 
hterature,  156;  Louis  XIV.  and, 
265-67,  283-85,  324,  327.  336; 
Puritan  revolution  in,  231-73; 
Reformation  in,  121,  125-32,  133- 
35,  143-46;  Restoration,  261-71; 
Revival  of  Learning  in,  119-22, 
155;  Scotland  and,  123-24.  146-47, 
151-53,  231-32,  247-48,  330;  sea 
power  of,  155,  317,  329,  330,  T,7,2„ 
338,  386-S7,  399-400,  481;  Seven 
Years'  War,  317-18,  319,  320,  337- 
38,  339;  Spain  and,  114,  122-25, 
139-40, 145, 152-54, 162, 173,  241- 
42,  238-39,  332-33,  4°2-3,  409, 
422-23;  Spanish  Succession  War, 
284-87,  329-30,  334;  Thirty  Years' 
War,  211-12,  238;  under  the 
Stuarts,  231-73;  under  the  Tudors, 
40-43,  "9-56,  232-33;  ^^^  Great 
Britain 


Index 


649 


Erasmus,    63-64;    critic,    translator, 
and    editor,     63-64;     "Praise    of 
FoUy,"  64 
Essex,  earl  of,  154 
Eugene,  prince  of  Savoy,  285,  286 
Eugenie,  empress  of  France,  477 
Europe  in  nineteenth  century.  Minor 
States  of,  5i6-29;Belgium,  525-27; 
Denmark,  527-28;  Holland,  524- 
25;  Portugal,  519-21;  Spain,  516- 
19;  Sweden  and  Norway,  528-29; 
Switzerland,  521-24 

Fairfax,  Sir  Thomas,  252,  254 
Fawkes,  Guy,  235 
Federal  Pact  of  Switzerland,  522 
Federation,  North  German,  472-73 
Fehrbellin,  battle  of,  307 
Ferdinand     of     Aragon,     conquers 

Naples  and  Spanish  Navarre,  38; 

establishes  Spanish  Inquisition,  39; 

extends   the   royal    authority,    38, 

108;  marries  Isabella  of  Castile,  37 
Ferdinand  of  Brunswick,  319,  338 
Ferdinand  I.,  emperor,  204 
Ferdinand   II.,   emperor,    208,    209, 

210,  211,  213,  215,  223 
Ferdinand  I.,   emperor   of   Austria, 

446,  454 
Ferdinand  I.  of  Naples,  420-21 
Ferdinand    VII.    of    Spain,    401-2, 

420,  516-17 
Feuillants,  365 
Finland,  298,  491 
Five  Mile  Act,  of  England,  264 
Flanders,    157,    159,    170,    171,   176; 

see  Netherlands,  Flemings 
Flemings,  432 
Fleury,  Cardinal,  335 
Florence,     18,     32-35;      see    Grand 

Duchy  of  Tuscany;  ruled  by  the 

Medici,  33 
Fontenoy,  battle  of,  2,2,^ 
Forest  Cantons,  86,  90,  521 
Formosa,  j*^  Japan 
France,     35-37,     178-202,     274-88, 

322-40,  343-413    428-32.  438-44, 


458-63,  478-79, 504-8; Mcendancy 
under  Louis  XIV.,  274-88,  327, 
336;  Austria  and,  165-66,  369,  371, 
381,  383-85,  387-90,  395-96.  399, 
403-4,  407-9;  Austrian  Succession 
War,  313-15,  ziz,  Ui;  before  the 
Revolution,  344-53;  Bourbon  res- 
toration, 409,  411,  428-30;  church 
in,  347-48,  392,  506-7;  England 
and,  rivalry  with,  122-24,  140, 
142-48,  151,  242,  265-67,  380-81, 
283-87,  317-18,  323-40,  371,  381, 
386-90,  395,  399-400,  402-3,  409, 
411,  416,  426,  480-81,  489,  508, 
511;  colonies  of,  278,  287,  336-37, 
338, 344, 504, 507-8;  Directory, 383- 
88;  European  coalitions  against, 
280,  283,  285,  371,  381,  387-88, 
407-9;  feudalism  in,  35,  200,  275, 
346-50;  Franco-PrussianWar,474- 
77;  French-Spanish  rivalry,  29-31, 
36,  38,  71-72,  75-76,  79,  112-13, 
122,  162,  178-79,  183-84,  197-98, 
201,  276,  279;  Germany  and,  83, 
1S4,  197,  201,  222,  279,  280-82, 
335,  387-88,  375-77;  government 
of,  35-36,  178,  183,  201,  345-46, 
353,  389,  390-93.  428,  443,  449, 
505-7;  in  Spain,  401-3,  409,  422; 
Italy  and,  383-85,  387-89,  394, 
395,  462-63,  465,  466-67;  literature 
of,  288;  Louis  Napoleon  and,  443- 
44,  458-67;  Napoleon's  reign, 
388-413;  Orleans  monarchy,  430- 
32,  436-41;  political  parties  in, 
439,  458,  505;  Reformation  in, 
180-96;  Republic  of  (1792-99), 
369-88;  (1848-51),  441-44,  458- 
59;  (1870),  477-79,  504-8,  511; 
Revolution  (1789),  344-413;  (1830) 
430-32;  (1848),  438-44;  revolu- 
tion, industrial,  in,  439,  442;  Russia 
and,  507,  537;  sea  power,  324,  338, 
344,  386-87,  395,  399-400;  Seven 
Years'  War,  317-21,  337,  344; 
Spanish  Succession  War,  284-87, 
327,  329-30;  Thirty  Years'  War, 


650 


Index 


joi,  222-26,  274;  Turkey  and,  79, 

386-87,  426,  461-62 
Franche-Comte,  282 
Francis    I.,    emperor     (Francis     of 

Lorraine),  315,  321 
Francis  II.,  emperor,  365,  384,  389; 

assumes  title  of  emperor  of  Austria, 

396 
Francis  I.,  emperor  of  Austria,  396; 

see  Francis  II.,  emperor 
Francis    Joseph    of    Austria,    463, 

512715 
Francis  I.  of  France,  conquers  Milan 
(iSiS)>  31 !  rivalry  with  Charles  V., 
31,    71,    76,    179;    French-Spanish 
wars    of,   31,  36,   75-77,  79,   179; 
alliance  with  the  Turk,  79;  Renais- 
sance  and,    179-80;    Reformation 
and,  179-82 
Francis  II.  of  France,  185,  188 
Franco-German  War,  474-77 
Frankfort-on-the-Main,  418,  447,  455 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  339 
Frederick,     Elector    Palatine,     208, 

209-10,  211,  238 
Frederick  VII.  of  Denmark,  470 
Frederick  of  Hohenzollern,  303 
Frederick  I.  of  Prussia,  309 
Frederick  II.,  the  Great,  of  Prussia, 
3"-22.  ZZV,    seizes    Silesia,    313; 
domestic    labors,    316,    321;    per- 
sonal qualities,  311-12,  316;  Seven 
Years'  War  and,  317-21;  acquires 
West  Prussia,  321;  results  of  reign, 

315.  322 
Frederick  the  Wise,  of  Saxony,  65,  71, 

80-81 
Frederick    William,    Great    Elector, 

305-8;    acquires   four    bishoprics 

and  East  Pomerania,  305;  acquires 

sovereignty  of  East  Prussia,  307; 

policy  of  paternalism,  306 
Frederick  William  I.  of  Prussia,  309- 

12;    administrative    genius,    310; 

acquires  Stettin,  311 
Frederick  William  III.  of  Prussia, 

397 


Frederick  William  IV.  of  Prussia, 
446,  448,  454-56,  468;  rejects  the 
Imperial  crown,  455;  tries  to  form 
German  union,  456 

French  Revolution,  see  Revolution, 
French 

Friars,  46 

Friedland,  battle  of,  398 

Fronde,  375-76 

Galileo,  533 

Gama,  Vasco  da,  11 

Gambetta,  organizes  government  ot 
defence  after  Sedan,  477 

Garibaldi,  commands  forces  of 
Roman  Republic,  452;  captures  the 
Two  Sicilies,  464-65 

Geneva,  struggles  for  freedom,  91; 
Reformation  in,  92-97 

Genoa,  Napoleon  and,  385,  390,  394; 
annexed  to  Sardinia,  415 

George  I.  of  Great  Britain,  330-32 

George  II.,  320,  332-38 

George  III.,  320,  338 

George  I.  of  Greece,  494,  note 

German  Empire,  birth  of,  477-78; 
Bismarck  as  Chancellor,  508-ri; 
and  the  Catholic  Church,  509; 
growth  of  socialism,  510;  Triple 
Alliance,  511,  550;  end  of  by  revolu- 
tion, 583 

Germany,  25-29,  59-84,  203-27, 
445-57,  468-79,  508-12;  see  Holy 
Roman  Empire;  see  also  Prussia, 
Austria,  Bavaria,  and  German 
Empire;  attempts  to  unify,  26-28, 
395-96,  417-18,  434,  446-47,  455- 
57,  472-73,  477-78;  Austria  and, 
317,  322,  355-56,  471-73,  55c; 
Austrian  Succession  War,  313-15, 
335;  Bund  of,  418,  433-34,  435, 
446,  447,  456,  470,  473;  colonies  of, 
540;  feudalism  in,  26-27,  417; 
France  and,  83,  183,  184,  222,  335, 
381;  Franco-German  War,  475-77) 
German  Parliament,  446-47,  455- 
56;    government    of     26-27,    225, 


Index 


6s. 


446,  454,  473.  509;  later  Empire  of, 
508-12;     Louis    XIV.    and,    277, 
280-84;  Napoleon  and,  389,  395- 
96,  399,  401,  406-8,  417;  peasant 
revolt  in,  74-75;  Reformation  in, 
59-S4,   202,   204;   Renaissance  in, 
59-65;  revolution  of  (1830),  433- 
35;  revolution  of  (1848),  446-48, 
4S4-S7;    Russia    and,    511,     549; 
Seven  Years'  War,  318,  319,  337, 
338;  Spain  and,  107-8;  see  Charles 
v.,  Netherlands,  revolt  of;  Thirty 
Years'  War,  203-27 
Ghent,  pacification  of,  169-70 
Gibraltar,  England  acquires,  287,330 
Gironde,  365,  370-72,  376 
Girondists,  365,  366,  370,  372,  375 
Gladstone,  Liberal  minister,  485,  487 
"Glorious    Revolution"    (England), 

271-73.  Z'^Z 

Gorgei,  Hungarian  patriot,  453 
Grand  Alliance    (Empire,   England, 

Holland),  285,  287 
Gravelotte,  battle  of,  476 
Great  Britain  (since  1707),  see  Eng- 
land; at  the  Congress  of  Vienna, 
409,  414-19;  colonies  of,  487-90, 
539-40.  541-43.  545;  CrimeanWar, 
461-62,  489,  495;  Egypt  and,  499, 
5S4-S5;  foreign  policy,  489-90; 
Germany  and,  490,  511;  govern- 
ment of,  490;  Holy  Alliance  and, 
418-19,  421,  422-23.  426,  481; 
Imperial  Federation,  487-88;  in- 
dustrial revolution,  535-36;  Irish 
Settlement,  486-87;  Portugal  and, 
423;  reforms  (since  1822),  481- 
86;  Russia  and,  426,  489-90,  493, 
494-96,  499;  Turkey  and,  426, 
489-90,  495,  499,  559,  594-96 
Great    Elector,    Frederick    William, 

30S-8 
Greece,  revolution  in,  423-27,  493-94 
Greek  Church,  289,  424,  493,  498 
Greeks,  424,  493,  499,  575,  593 
Grevy,  President  of  the  Freiicii  Re- 
public, 506 


Grotius,  Hugo,  176 

Grouchy,  Marshal,  411 

Grey,  Earl,  Whig  minister,  483 

Grey,  Lady  Jane,  136-37 

Guelph,  family  of,  330 

Guise,  family  of,  186,  191;  Francis, 
duke  of,  186,  188-89;  Henry,  duke 
of,  192,  193,  194 

Guizot,  French  minister  and  his- 
torian, 440-41 

Gunpowder  Plot,  in  England,  235 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  of  Sweden,  212, 
294;  and  Thirty  Years'  War,  216-20 

Gutenberg,  John,  21 

Haakon,  king  of  Norway    529 

Haarlem,  160,  168  [546 

Hague,  Peace  Meetings  (1897,  1907), 

Hals,  Frans,  176 

Hampden,  John,  246,  251 

Hanover,  298,  327,  332,  417,  473; 
House  of,  330 

Hapsburg,  House  of,  26,  70,  158,  199, 
2(^1,  205,  308;  dominions,  28,  37- 
38,  71,  206,  208,  287,  30S,  315,  512, 
514;  division  of,  83-84,  287;  counts 
of,  86,  87,  521;  rivalry  with  House 
of  Bourbon,  197,  207,  212,  222, 
284,  317;  Austrian  branch,  197, 
276,  284,  312,  315,  453.  514; 
Spanish  branch,  197,  222,  276; 
rivalry  with  Prussia,  308,  312-22, 
405,  455-57.  466,  471-72 

Hebert,  377-78 

Hebertists,  377-78 

Henrietta  Maria,  queen  of  England, 
240 

Henry  III.  of  France,  192,  193-94 

Henry  VII.  of  England,  41-43 

Henry  VIII.  of  England,  121-33; 
foreign  policy,  122-23;  his  wars, 
1 24;  Defender  of  the  Faith,  125-26; 
marriage  and  divorce  from  Cathe- 
rine of  Aragon,  125-29;  breaks 
with  Pope,  128;  head  of  National 
Church,  128-29;  suppresses  mon- 
asteries, 130-31 


652 


Index 


Henrj'  of  Navarre,  190,  191,  193,  194; 
see  Henry  IV.  of  France 

Henry  H.  of  France,  occupies  Ger- 
man bishoprics,  83,  184;  renounces 
Italy,  113,  162,  183,  184 

Henry  IV.  of  France  (Henry  of 
Navarre),  194-98;  abjures  Prot- 
estant faith,  195;  domestic  policy, 
195-97 

Herzegovina,  495-97,  5^5 

High  Commission,  court  of,  345,  248 

Highlanders,  revolt  of,  334 

History,  defined,  1-3 

Hohenzollern,  House  of,  303,  305, 
455.  473;  deposition,  583 

Holland  (Netherlands,  Dutch  Nether- 
lands, Seven  United  Provinces), 
112,  157,  161,  165,  168,  169,  170, 
172,  175-77;  Austrian  Succession 
War,  314-15;  Belgium  and,  416, 
432-33.  524;  France  and,  381,  385, 
394.  404;  government,  524-25; 
Thirty  Years'  War,  174,  211 

Holy  Alhance,  418-19,  423,  426„5i7 

Holy  Roman  Empire,  25-29,  59,  309, 
335;  see  Emperor,  and  Germany; 
origin  of  name,  25;  government, 
26-27;  electors  of,  26;  feudalism 
in,  26-27,  417;  decentralized  by  the 
Treaty  of  Westphalia  (1648),  225; 
Austria  and,  314,  318,  319,  396; 
Napoleon  and,  389-90,  395-96, 
399,  408,  417 

Horn,  count  of,  163,  165 

Hubertsburg,  Peace  of,  321 

Huguenots,  186-93,  196,  198-200, 
242,  274,  282-83;  Great  Elector 
and,  306 

Humanism,  17;  Italian  and  German, 
60-61;  in  the  universities,  17,  61- 
63;  reformers  of,  64;  in  France, 
180 

"Hundred  Days,"  Napoleon's,  410- 
II 

Hungary  (Hungarians),  313,  449, 
452-54,  512-15;  revolution  (1848), 
449,  45^-54;  revolution  (1918),  594 


Huss,  John,  55,  60,  206 
Hutten,  Ulrich  von,  63 

Iceland,  528 

lUyrian  provinces,  404 

Independents,  in  England,  253,  364 

Index,  papal,  105 

India,  337-38,  387,  489,  499;  a  dis- 
turbed area,  601 

Indulgences,  sale  of,  52,  67-68 

Innocent  III.,  Pope,  54 

Inquisition,  Spanish,  39-40,  109-11, 
117;  first  appearance  of,  54,  loi; 
Roman  (also  Papal  Inquisition), 
101-2,  183;  in  Netherlands,  160— 
61,  162,  163 

Intendants,  French,  200,  345 

Interim,  81 

Ireland,  Anglican  Church  dises- 
tablished in,  486;  Cromwell  con- 
quers, 256,  326;  Home  Rule  agita- 
tion, 339,  486-87;  Land  Acts,  487; 
revolts  of,  325,  326;  relations  to 
England,  325-26   339-40 

Ironsides,  Cromvv'eirs,  251 

Isabella,  queen  of  Castile,  11,  37,  108 

Isabella  of  Spain,  517-18 

Ismail,  pasha  and  khedive  of  Egypt, 
556 

Italy,  29-35,  445-57,  462-67,  502-4; 
and  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  415- 
16;  and  the  Pope,  72,  76,  450-51, 
503-4;  art  and  literature,  16-18; 
Austria  and,  384,  390,  395,  415, 
417,421,  433.462-63,466,471-72; 
cities  of,  7-9,  18,  32-33;  colonial 
policy,  504;  government,  502;  lead- 
ing states  prior  to  unification,  29— 
35;  Napoleon  in,  383-85,  3S9-90, 
394,  395,  399;  Revolution  (1848), 
449-52;  rival  French  and  Spanish 
claims,  29-31,  36,  38,  71,  76,  112- 
13,  162,  178-79,  183-84;  Sardinia 
and  Italian  liberation,  449-53, 
46J-67;  Triple  Alliance,  504,  507, 

s'l-  515,  550, 556 

Ivan  I\'.  the  Terrible,  of  Russia,  289 


Index 


653 


Jacobin  Club,  360,  380 

Jacobins,  360,  373,  378 

Jamaica,  260 

James  I.  of  England  (VI.  of  Scot- 
land), 231-39;  and  Thirty  Years' 
War,  211-12,  238;  and  Parliament, 
235-37;  and  the  Puritans,  233-35 

James  II.  (duke  of  York),  265,  267, 
268,  269-72,  324-25 

James,  the  Pretender,  330 

Japan,  490,  499-500,  556,  586 

Jeffreys,   Judge;  see  Bloody  Assizes 

Jena,  battle  of,  397 

Jesuits  (Society  of  Jesus),  98-106; 
constitution  of  order,  99-101; 
champions  of  the  Papacy,  100-4, 
105-6;  at  the  Council  of  Trent,  104 

Jews,  39,  loi,  109-10 

Joachim  II.,  elector  of  Brandenburg, 

John  IV.  of  Portugal,  519-20 

John  Sigismund,  elector  of  Branden- 
burg, 304 

Jonson,  Ben,  156 

Josephine  (Beauharnais),  empress  of 
France,  394,  404 

Joseph  II.,  emperor,  321-22 

Jourdan,  General,  381,  383,  384 

JuHus  II.,  34,  125 

Just,  Saint,  378 

Kappel,  Peace  of,  90-91 
Kaunitz,  Austrian  minister,  317 
Kitchener,  General,  568 
Knights.  Teutonic,  304 
Knox,  John,  147,  148 
Korea,  500 
Kosciusko,  300 
Kossuth,  Louis,  453 
Kunersdorf,  battle  of,  320 

Lafayette,  marquis  de,  leader  in 
National  Assembly,  355;  com- 
mander of  the  National  Guard, 
358;  removes  Royal  Family  to 
Paris,  359-60;  in  revolution  of 
1830,  431 


Laibach,  Congress  of,  421,  423 

Landfrieden,  27 

La  Rochelle,  196,  199 

Laud,    Archbishop    of    Canterbury, 

244-45.  248,  249 
Laws  of  the  Guarantees  (Italian),  503 
League  of   Cambray   (France,   Em- 
pire, Spain,  Pope),  32 
Lefevre,  Jacques,  180 
Legislative  Assembly,  364-69 
Legitimist,  party  in  France,  439,  440, 

458.  505 

Leicester,  earl  of,  173 

Leipsic,  battle  of,  408 

Leopold  I.,  emperor,  308 

Leopold  II.,  emperor,  365-66 

Leopold  of  Saxe-Coburg,  king  of 
Belgium,  433 

Leopold  I.  of  Belgium,  525 

Leopold  II.  of  Belgium,  525-16 

Leopold,  prince  of  Hohenzollern- 
Sigmaringen,  candidate  for  the 
throne  of  Spain,  475,  517 

Leo  X.,  Pope,  patron  of  letters  and 
art,  34;  excommunicates  Luther, 
69;  and  Henry  VIIL,  125 

Leo  XIII.,  Pope,  506 

"Letters  of  Obscure  Men,"  62-63 

Lepanto,  battle  of,  11 4-1 5 

Lettre  de  cachet,  345 

Leuthen,  battle  of,  319 

Leyden,  siege  of,  168-69;  University 
of,  169 

Liberalism,  413, 19,  435,  445,    539-41 

Liberals,  party  in  Great  Britain,  268, 
484,  485-  487 

Ligurian  Republic,  385,  394 

Lit  de  justice,  345 

Lombardy,  384,  385,  417.  4S0.  463 

London,  Treaty  of  (1827),  426;  Con- 
ference of  (1830),  433;  (1852),  456; 
Protocol  of  (1852),  456,  471 

Long  Parliament,  248,  261,  271 

Lords,  feudal,  20,  23;  see  Barons, 
also  Nobles 

Lords,  House  of,  English,  41,  337, 
25s.  268 


654 


Index 


Lorraine,  acquired  by  France,  335, 

476;  acquired  by  Germany,  477 
Louise  of  Savoy,  181 
Louis  Philippe  of  France,  431,  438- 

41 
Louis  XII.  of  Frande,  claims  Milan, 
31;  Holy  League  formed  against, 

31.  36 
Louis  XIII.  of  France,  198,  199 
Louis  XIV.  {Grand,  Monar que),  reign, 
276-88,   344,   345,    352;    England 
and,  265-67,  324-25,  327;  absolute 
monarchy,   276—77,  345;   court  at 
Versailles,    277,    288;    continental 
aggression,    279,    288,    324,    336; 
wars,  279-87:  for  Spanish  Nether- 
lands, 279-80;  with  Dutch,  280-82, 
307;  of  the  Palatinate,  283-84,  327; 
of    Spanish    Succession,     285-87; 
seizes     Strasburg,     282;     revokes 
Edict  of  Nantes,  282-83,  3°^ 
Louis    XV.,    315,    334-36,    345-46, 

352 

Louis  XVI.,  352;  attempts  reforms, 
352-53;  assembles  the  States- 
General,  353;  flight  to  Varennes, 
362-63;  suspended  by  the  Legis- 
lative Assembly,  367;  condemned 
and  executed  by  the  National 
Convention,  370 

Louis  XVIII.  of  France,  409,  410, 
411,  428-29 

Loyola,  Ignatius,  99,  205 

Luneville,  Peace  of,  389-90 

Lutheranism  (and  Lutherans),  82, 
86,  88,  89,  203-4,  225 

Luther,  Martin,  60,  65-73;  leader  of 
Reformation,  64;  his  doctrines,  66- 
67;  protests  against  indulgences, 
68;  in  revolt,  68-69;  his  theses,  68; 
excommunicated,  69;  at  Diet  of 
Worms,  70-71;  outlawed,  71-72; 
conservatism  of,  73,  75;  and  peas- 
ant revolt,  74-75;  death  (1546),  80 

Liltzen,  battle  of  (1632),  220;  (1813), 
407 

Lyons,  revolt  of,  376 


Macedonia,  49S-99,  j^y^  561 
MacMahon,  Marshal,  476,  505-6 
Madagascar,  507 
Madeira,  520 
Magdeburg,  218 
Magenta,  battle  of,  463 
Maintenon,  Madame  de,  282 
Malplaquet,  battle  of,  286 
Malta,  England  acquires,  416 
Mamelukes,  387 
Manchuria,  500 
Marat,  360,  368,  370,  372,  374 
Marches     of     Umbria,     seized     by 

Garibaldi,  465 
Marengo,  battle  of,  389 
Margaret  of  Navarre,  181 
Margaret  of  Parma,  162-64 
Maria  de'  Medici,  198 
Maria  Theresa,  312-22,  335 
Marie  Antoinette,  352,  365,  375 
Marie  Louise,  empress  of  France,  404 
Marignano,  battle  of,  31,  36 
Maritime  discoveries,  10-15 
Marlborough,  duke  of,  285-86,  329 
Marlowe,  Christopher,  156 
Marston  Moor,  battle  of,  251 
Marx,  Karl,  jjg 
Marj'  I.  of  England,  137-41;  restores 

Catholicism,    138;   marries   Philip 

II.    of    Spain,    139;    persecutions 

under,  139-40 
Mary  II.  of  England,  270-71 
Mary  of  Burgundy,  28,  158 
Mary,  queen  of  Scots,  146-53,  185; 

her  character,  149 
Massena,  General,  388 
Matthias,  Emperor,  206,  208 
Maurice  of  Nassau,  174-75 
Maurice  of  Saxony,  81,  83,  183 
Maximilian,  duke  of  Bavaria,  205, 

209,  210,  225 
Maximilian,  emperor  of  Mexico,  474 
Maximilian  I.,  emp)eror  of  Germany, 

26-28,  59;  attempted  reforms,  27; 

lucky  marriage  alliances,  28,   15&; 

death,  28,  70 
I  Mazarin,  Cardinal,  275-76 


I 


Index 


65s 


Mazzini,  Italian  patriot,  451-52,  459 

Meaux,  180-81 

Medici,  family  of,  33,  34 

Mehemet  Ali,  pasha  of    Egypt,  425, 

494-95 

Melanchthon,  77 

"Merry  Monarch,"  see  Charles  II. 
of  England 

Metternich,  Prince  (Austrian  states- 
man), 408-9.  418-25,  432,  434, 
445-46 

Metz,  83,  184,  224,  476,  477 

Mexico,  474 

Middle  Ages,  6,  7,  11,  16,  17,  18,  20, 

23,  S3,  159 
Miguel,  Don,  Portuguese  Pretender, 

520 

Milan,  a  fief  of  the  Empire,  30,  31; 
rival  French  and  Spanish  claims, 
31,  36,  71,  112-13,  179;  revolution 
(1848),  449-50 

Milan  I.  (Obrenovitch)  of  Servia,  497 

Milton,  John,  273 

Minorca,  287,  330 

Mirabeau,  Count,  355,  362,  377 

Mohammedans,  see  Turks,  Turkey, 
etc. 

MoUfere,  288 

Mollwitz,  battle  of,  313 

Moltke,  von,  Prussian  general,  476 

Monarchy,  feudal,  23,  346;  absolute, 
23-24,  41-42,  129,  133,  200,  232- 
33,  242,  249,  272,  276,  345 

Monarchist,  party  in  France,  430, 
438,  440,  458-59,  478,  505-6 

Monasteries,  46,  72;  English,  sun- 
pressed  by  Henry  VHI.,  130-31 

Monastic  orders,  46,  98 

Mongols,  289 

Monk,  George,  General,  261 

Monks,  45-46,  72 

Monmouth,  duke  of,  270 

Monroe  Doctrine,  423,  474 

Montenegro,  496-97 

Montesquieu,  351 

More,  Sir  Thomas,  120-21,  129-30; 

^"Utopia  of,  120-21 


Morea,  425,  426 

Moreau,  General  (French),  383,  384, 

389 
Moors    in    Spain,    37,    39,    109-10, 

116-17 
Morocco,  508,  554-55 
Moscow,   Napoleon  at,  405;  retreat 

from,  406 
Mountain    (French    party),   37o-73» 

376 
Miihlberg,  battle  of,  81 
Mukden,  battle  of,  500 
Murat,  grand-duke  of  Berg,  399;  king 

of  Naples,  402 
Murillo,  118 
Mutiny  Act  of  England,  328 

Nantes,  Edict  of,  196,  198,  199,  200, 

306;  Reign  of  Terror  in,  377 
Naples,  Austria  and,  287,  421;  Bour- 
bons and,  417,  420,  465;  Napoleon 
^nd,  399,  402;  Piedmont  acquires, 
464-65;  rebelHon  (1820),  420-22; 
revolution  (1848),  449-50;  rival 
French  and  Spanish  claims,  29-31, 

36,  38 
Napoleon  I.,  Bonaparte,  early  life  of, 
385;  commands  the  Army  of  Italy, 
383;  Treaty  of  Campo  Formio, 
384;  Egyptian  campaign,  386-87; 
coup  d'etat  of  Brumaire,  388;  first 
Consul,  389;  Peace  of  Luneville, 
389-90;  Peace  of  Amiens,  390; 
administrative  reforms,  391;  Civil 
Code  and  Concordat,  392-93; 
emperor  of  the  French,  394;  re- 
news war  with  England,  395,  399; 
Austerlitz,  395;  settlement  of 
Germany,  395-96,  399;  war  against 
Prussia,  396-97;  Peace  of  Tilsit, 
398,  400;  continental  system,  400- 
I,  404;  receives  crown  of  Spain, 
401-2;  revolt  of  the  peninsula, 
402-3,  405;  war  with  Austria,  404; 
invasion  of  Russia  and  retreat, 
405-6;  Prussia  leads  in  German 
revolt,    406-7;    defeated    by    the 


656 


Index 


Allies,  408;  assigned  to  Elba,  409; 
returns  to  France,  410;  "Hundred 
Days,"  410-11;  abdication  and 
exile,  411 

Napoleon  III.,  Louis,  443-44;  Presi- 
dent of  French  Republic,  443-44; 
restores  Papal  Government,  451- 
52.  4591  co^P  d'etat,  459-60; 
foreign  policy,  460;  Crimean  War, 
460-62;  champions  Italian  unity, 
462-67;  annexes  Savoy  and  Nice, 
464,  474;  secures  Venetia  for 
Sardinia,  466;  failure  of  Mexican 
Expedition,  474;  anger  against 
Prussia,  474-75;  Franco-Prussian 
War,  475-76 

Narva,  battle  of,  295 

Naseby,  battle  of,  252,  253,  254 

Nassau,  family  of,  165,  175 

National  Assembly  (also  Constituent 
Assembly),  of  France,  354-64 

National  Convention  of  France,  369- 
72 

National  Guard  of  France,  358,  359, 

363 
Nationalism,  413,  418.  419,  435,  445, 

449.  530>  540,  586-87,  597-600 
Navarino,  battle  of,  426 
Navigation  Acts  of  England,  259,  265 
Necker  (French  minister),  353 
Nelson,  Admiral,  386-87,  399 
Netherlands,  Austrian,  287,  333 
Netherlands,   Dutch   (Seven   United 
Provinces),  170-77,  226,  279,  386, 
287;  see  Holland 
Netherlands  (or  Low  Countries),  28, 
157-77;  revolt  of,  112,113,157-77; 
under    Spain,  158,  160-74;    king- 
dom of,  416,  432-33 
Netherlands,  Spanish,  112,  170,  176- 
77,  266,  279,  286,  287;  Austria  ac- 
quires, 287;  Louis  XIV.  and,  266, 
279-80 
Newfoundland,  287,  330 
New  model  ordinance  (England),  252 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  533 
Ney,  Marshal,  406,  410 


Nice,  annexed  to  France,  384,  464 

Nicholas  I.  of  Russia,  436,  436,  454, 
460-62,  492,  495 

Nicholas  II.  of  Russia,  grants  a  con- 
stitution, 501;  and  The  Hague 
court,   546;  deposed,  571 

Nimwegen,  Treaty  of,  282 

Nobles  (nobility),  20-21,  23-24;  in 
England,  41-43;  in  France,  35, 
198,  200,  275-76,  346;  in  Poland, 
300,  426 

Nordlingen,  battle  of,  221,  222 

Northumberland,  duke  of,  135-37 

Norway,  Reformation  in,  86;  Sweden 
and,  86,  528-29 

Nuremberg,  Peace  of,  78,  79 

Nystadt,  Treaty  of,  298 

Gates,  Titus,  5ee  "Popish  Plot" 
O'Connell,  Daniel,  Irish  patriot,  482, 

486 
Orange  Free  State,  488 
Orange,  House  of  (House  of  Nassau), 

165,  17s,  416,  524,  525 
Orders  in  Council,  English,  400 
Orleanist,  party  in  France,  458,  505 
Orleans,  duke  of  (Egalite),  375 
Orleans,   duke  of  (Louis  Philippe), 

431 
Orleans,  duke  of  (Regent),  334-35 
Oscar  II.  of  Sweden,  529 
Osman  Pasha,  496 
Otto,  king  of  Greece,  426-27 
Ottoman  Empire,  460-61,  489,  493- 

99;  see  Turkey 
Oudenarde,  battle  of,  286 
Oxenstiern,  Chancellor  of    Sweden. 

221 

Palatinate,  in  Thirty  Years'  War, 
210-12,  225;  War  of  the,  283-84, 
327 

PapalStates,  33-35,  384,404,417.4335 
insurrection  quelled  by  Austria, 
433;  revolution  (1848),  449-52; 
held  by  French  for  the  Pope,  463, 
466;  annexed  to  Italy,  467,  503-4 


Index 


657 


Paris,  Commune  in,  47S;  insurrec- 
tion of  workingmen,  442;  munici- 
pality of,  368,  378;  mob  rule  in, 
356-60,  366-67,  369,  370,  372,  379, 
382;  occupied  by  the  Allies,  409; 
by   the    Germans,  477;    Peace    of 

(1763),  338,  344;  (1898),  519; 
Parlement  of,  36,  275;  revolution 
(1789-95),  353-83;  (1830),  430-31; 
(1848),  430;  Treaty  of  (1814),  409; 
(1815),  411,  414;  (1856),  461,  489, 
495;  peace  conference  (1919),  584-96 

Paris,  count  of,  441 

Parliament,  English,  34,  41-42;  con- 
trols taxation,  42,  236,  242;  under 
theTudors,  41-42, 128-29, 138-39, 
143,  232-33;  contest  with  king, 
235-37-  240-43,  248-49,  271-72; 
supremacy  established,  272;  con- 
stitution building,  327-29,  331 

Parliament,  German,  446-47,  455- 
56;  offers  Imperial  crown  to 
Frederick  WiUiam  IV.,  455 

Parliaments  (parlentenls),  French, 
36,  183,  201,  345 

Parmi,  duke  of,  153,  170-74 

Paul  III.,  Pope,  80,  99 

Paul  IV.,  Pope,  98 

Pavia,  battle  of,  76,  179,  181 

Peasants,  revolt  in  Germany,  74-75; 
of  France,  349-50;  in  Russia,  492; 
in  Poland,  436 

Pe^o  I.,  emperor  of  Brazil,  519- 
20 

Pedro  II.,  emperor  of  Brazil,  520 

Penance,  51-52,  65-66 

Perry,  Commodore,  544 

Petition  of  Right,  English,  242-43, 
263,  271 

Peter  I.,  the  Great,  of  Russir,  290-99; 
fXjlicy,  91-92;  reforms,  293,  298; 
designs  on  Sweden,  293;  opposed 
by  Charles  XII.,  294-97 

Peter  III.,  320 

Petrarch,  16-17 

PhUlpII.  of  Spain,  1 10-17;  character, 
III,  116;  champions  Catholicism, 


1 1 2-14;    his    wars,     112-15,    i6a, 

165-74 
Philip  III.  of  Spain,  117 
Philip  V.  of  Spain,  2S4,  286,  287 
Philip  of  Hesse,  80,  89 
Philippines,  518-19 
Philosophers,  French,  350-51 
Pichegni,  General  (French),  38r 
Piedmont,    annexed    by    Napoleon, 

394;  granted  a  constitution,  452; 

insurrection  (1820),  421;  war  with 

Austria,  449-50,  452 
Pitt,  William  (the  Great  Commoner), 

337-38 

Pitt,  William  (the  younger),  340 

Pius  IX.,  Pope,  450-52 

Plevna,  siege  of,  496 

Plain  (French  party),  370 

Plombieres,  Treaty  of,  alliance  be- 
tween Sardinia  and  France,  462 

Poland  (and  Poles),  and  Sweden, 
294-96,  298;  Austria  and,  300,  321, 
381,  403;  duchy  of  Warsaw,  398, 
403-4,  416,435;  internal  weakness, 
296,  299-300;  Napoleon  and,  398, 
403-4;  Prussia  and,  300,  304-5, 
321,  381,  398,  416;  revolution 
(1830),  435-37;  Russia  and,  290, 
299-300,  321,  403-4,  416,  435-37. 
491-92,  500;  reborn  593,  599 

Pole,  Cardinal,  138 

Polish  Succession  War,  335 

Politics,  meaning  and  relation  to 
history,  3;  shaped  by  commerce  and 
industry,  431-44 

Pomerania,  East,  225,  305;  West, 
224,  294,  298,  305,  307,  308,  310 

Pompadour,  Madame  de,  337,  344, 

352 
Pope  (and  papacy),  s»e  Reforma- 
tion; and  Charles  V.,  72,  76,  103, 
127;  and  councils,  103-4;  and 
Indulgences,  52,  67-68;  and  Ref- 
ormation, 58-227;  infallibility  of, 
104;  power  of,  45-46,  51-52,  80, 
104-5,  125-29;  Henry  VIII.  and, 
124,  125,  127-32;  Napoleon  and. 


658 


Index 


384,  392,  404;  Papal  States,  384, 
404,  417,  433,  450-52.  465,  466- 
67;  and  the  Italian  State,  503-4 

"Popish  Plot,"  of  England,  267-68 

Port  Arthur,  500 

Porto  Rico,  519 

Portsmouth,  Peace  of,  500 

Portugal,  explorations  and  discover- 
ies, 10-14,  19;  colonies  of,  13-14. 
520-21;  Spain  and,  13,  115;  Na- 
poleon and,  400-1,  519;  revolution 
(1820),  420,  423,  519;  Brazil  and, 
519-20 

Potsdam,  311 

Pragmatic  Sanction  of  Emp>eror 
Charles  VI.,  312-13 

Prague,  206,  208,  209,  221,  318; 
Peace  of  (1635),  221,  222;  (1866), 
472 

Presbyterianism,  148,  234 

Presbyterians,  in  England,  252-54, 
264 

Pressburg,  Peace  of,  395 

Pride's  Purge,  254 

Prince  Henry  the  Navigator,  10 

Privileged  orders,  of  France,  346-48, 

361,  411 
Protectorate,  Cromwell's,  257-61 
Protestantism  (and  Protestants),  85, 
86,  91,  100,  112-14,  132,  135.  141. 
146,  161,  169,  186,  203-5,  207,  216 
217,  220,  227,  522 
Protestant,  origin  of  name,  78 
Protestant  Union  of  Germany,  205, 

208,  209,  210 
Prussia,  302-22;  see  Austria,  Ger- 
man Empire  (of  187 1);  acquires 
Alsace  and  Lorraine,  477;  allied 
with  Austria  against  the  French 
Revolution,  366,  371,  381;  at  the 
Congress  of  Vienna,  415-18; 
Austro-Prussian  War  (1866),  471- 
73;  beginnings  of,  304-5;  5fe  Bran- 
denburg; Bismarck  as  Prime  Min- 
ister, 469-78;  Denmark  and,  448, 
470-71;  Franco  -  Prussian  War, 
474-77;    French    Revolution    and 


Napoleon,  366,  3(55,  371,  381,  396' 
400,  406-9,  411,  434;  king  ot, 
becomes  emperor  of  Germany,  478-, 
Poland  and,  300,  304-S.  321.  381. 
398,  416;  revolution  (1848),  446-. 
48,  454-57;  rivalry  with  Austria, 
308,  312-22,  415,  455-57,  466, 
471-72;  Seven  Years'  War,  317- 
21,337;  Swedenand,  294,  298,307- 
8,  310-11;  Thirty  Years'  War  and, 
218-19,    225-26,    305;    ZoUverein, 

434 
Prussia,  East  (also  duchy  of  Prussia) 

304-5.  307,  309;  West,  304,  309, 

note;  321 
Ptolemy,  geographer  and  astronomer, 

II,  19 
Pultava,  battle  of,  297 
Puritans,    145,    233-34,    239,    252; 

revolution  of,  in  England,  231-73 
Pyrenees,  Peace  of,  118,  276 

Quadrilateral,  449,  463 
Quebec,  captured  by  Wolfe,  338 
Quiberon,  battle  of,  338 

Racine,  288 

Radetzky,  Austrian  general,  449-50 

RamiUies,  battle  of,  286 

Rastadt,  Peace  of,  287 

Ratisbon,  Diet  of,  216 

Reformation,  59-227;  in  Germany, 
59-84;  in  Europe,  85-106;  in 
England,  119-56;  in  Netherlands, 
157-77;  in  France,  178-202;  and 
Thirty  Years'  War,  203-27;  Coun- 
ter Reformation  of  Catholic  States, 
97-106 

Reform  Bill,  England,  483-84 

Reichstag,  473 

Reign  of  Terror  in  France,  372-80 

Rembrandt,  176 

Renaissance,  characteristics,  5-24; 
economic  revival,  6-10;  maritime 
discoveries,  10-15;  revival  of  learn- 
ing, of  the  fine  arts,  15-18;  period 
of  investigation  and  invention,  18- 


Index 


659 


21;  emancipation  of  the  individual, 
21-23;  destruction  of  feudalism, 
growth  of  absolutism,  23-24;  dif- 
ferent character  in  Italy  and  Ger- 
many, 60-61 
Republicans,  party  in   France,   439, 

441. 443-44.458-59. 478-79.  504-6 

Republic,  Third,   of  France,  504-8; 

allied   with    Russia,    507;   church, 

506-7;  colonial  expansion,  507-8; 

government,  505 

Requesens,  168-69 

Restitution,   Edict  of,   215-16,   217, 

221,  224 
Restoration,  English,  261-71,  273 
Reuchlin,  John,  62,  63 
Revival  of  learning,  15-18,  60 
Revolutionary     Tribunal,      French, 

374-75.  378-80 
Revolution,  French,  344-413;  system 
of  government  and  society  before, 
344-50;  revolt  against  feudalism, 
350-51;  demand  for  reform,  350- 
53;  States-General  assembled,  353; 
National  Assembly,  350-64;  con- 
trolled by  mob,  356-60,  362,  367, 
372;  abolition  of  privileges,  361; 
assigiuUs,  361;  constitutional  mon- 
archy, 361-64,  381-83;  declares 
war  against  Austria,  365-66;  over- 
throw of  monarchy,  367;  militant 
democracy,  368-69,  381;  Reign  of 
Terror,  369,  372-79;  Louis  XVI. 
executed,  370-71;  First  Coalition 
against,  371,381;  civil  war,376-77; 
fall  of  Robespierre,  379-So;  peace 
with  Prussia  and  Spain,  381;  the 
Directory ,  383-88 ;  defeat  of  Austria 
and  Treaty  of  Campo  Formio,  384- 
85;  the  Rhine  boundary,  384,  390, 
408;  expedition  to  Egypt,  386-87; 
Second  Coalition,  387-88;  the 
Consulate,  3S8-94;  see  Napoleon 
lichelieu.  Cardinal,  198-202,  274; 
domestic  policy,  199-201,  212; 
absolute  monarchy,  200-01,  345; 
foreign  policy,  201,  218,  222 


Rizzio,  David,  150 

Robespierre,  355,  360,  363,  368,  370, 
373,  378-80 

Roland,  Madame,  375 

Rome,  and  Renaissance  Popes,  33-34, 
97,  98;  sacked  and  pillaged,  76; 
Republic  of,  451-52;  Italian  troops 
enter,  467;  national  capital,  467 

Romanoff,  House  of,  founded  by 
Michael,  290;  deposition  of  (1917), 
571;  liquidation  of  empire,  597-98, 

Rossbach,  battle  of,  319  [603 

Roumania,  493-96,  5^2,  575.  593 

Roundheads,  250 

Rousseau,  351 

Royal  Society  of  England,  273 

Rubens,  177 

Rudolph  II.,  emperor,  205,  206 

Rump  Parliament,  254,  256,  257,  260 

Rupert,  Prince,  251 

Russia,  289-302,  491-501;  alliance 
with  French  Repubhc,  507,  511; 
at  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  409, 
416-19;  Austria  and,  515;  China 
and,  499-500;  Congress  of  Berlin 
and,  496-97.  507,  515;  England 
and,  387-88,  460-61,  489-90,  493, 
495,  496,  499;    expansion  in  Asia, 

489,  493.  497.  499;  France  and, 
507,  55°!  Finland  and,  291,  498; 
Holy  Alliance  of  Alexander  I., 
418-19,  423,  426,  491;  Japan  and, 

490,  499-500,  598-99;  Napoleon 
and  the  Treaty  of  Tilsit,  398-409; 
Poland  and,  290,  299-300,  321, 
403-4,  416,  435-37,  491-92.  500; 
revolution  in,  490,  500-1;  Seven 
Years'  War,  318-20;  Sweden  and, 
290,  293-98;  Turkey  and,  299, 
300-1,  426,  461,  489,  493-99; 
under  Catherine  II.,  299-301; 
under  Peter  the  Great,  290-99 

Ruyter,  Admiral,  280 
Ryswick,  Peace  of,  284 

Sadowa,  battle  of,  466,  472 
Sakhalin,  500 


66o 


htdex 


Sans  Souci,  323 
Sardinia-Piedmont,  acquires  Genoa, 

415,417;   and  Austria,  421,   449- 

50,  452;  Crimean  War,  462;  grows 

into    kingdom    of    Italy,    462-65; 

Napoleon    and,    384;    revolution 

(1848),  449-50.  452 
Savonarola,  i^i 
Savoy,     duke    of,    34-35.    9i.    260; 

House    of,    35,    452;    annexed    to 

France.  364,  384 
Saxe,    Maurice    de.    Marshal,    315, 

Saxony,  Charles  XII.  and,  295-98; 
Napoleon  and,  398,  408,  416; 
Prussia  and,  415-16,  471;  Ref- 
ormation in,  73-74,  80-81,  loi, 
303;  Seven  Years'  War,  318-19; 
Thirty  Years'  War,  210,  218-19, 
221 
Scharnhorst  (Prussian  Minister),  407 
Schleswig-Holstein,  447-48,  456,  527; 

Prussia  acquires,  472 
Science,  progress  of,  531-36 
Scodand,  and  England,  123,  146, 
151-53,  247-48,  252-54,  334;  and 
France,  123,  147-48;  Reforma- 
tion in,  147-48;  Cromwell  and, 
256;    union     with    England,    232, 

256,  330 
Sedan,    battle    of.    Napoleon    III., 
defeated  and  taken  prisoner,  476- 

77 
Self-denying    Ordinance    (English), 

252;  (French),  364 
Senate  (French),  505 
Separation  Act  (French),  507 
Separatists,  145 
Sepoys,  mutiny  of,  488 
Serbs,  493,  495,  497.  499,  5^2 
Serbia,  494,  497-981  557.  559.  5^2 
Servia,  iee  Serbia 
Settlement,  Act  of,  English,  327 
Seven  Years'  War,  317-21,  337 
Shakespeare,  William,  156 
Short  Parliament,  247 
Siberia,  499,  501,  597-9^ 


Sicily,  Bourbons  in,  417,  421,  464-65' 
Piedmont  acquires,  464-65;  revolt 
of  (1820),  421;  Spain  (Aragon) 
and,  29,  30;  see  Naples 

Sieyfes.  Abbe,  355,  360 

Silesia,  claim  to,  disputed,  308; 
seized  by  Frederick  the  Great,  313: 
final  cession  to  Prussia,  321 

Silesian  Wars,  313-15,  3^7 

Slavs,  289,  302,  304,  424,  449,  493, 

496,  512,  513 
Smalkald,   League   of,    78;   war   of, 

80-81 
Social-Democrats,  party  in  Germany, 

510 
Socialism,    439,    44i-43>    S^o,    516. 

537-38 
Socialist,  party  in  France,  439,  442- 

Society,     mediaeval,     characteristics, 
6-7,   19,   20,  21,  346-50;  Renais- 
sance characteristics,  6,  17,  21-23 
61 

Solferino,  battle  of,  463 

Somerset,  duke  of,  133-35 

Sophia,  electress  of    Hanover,  327, 

330 

Sor  bonne,  181 

Spain,  11-14,  37-40,  107-18,  110-18; 
Austrian  Succession  War,  313, 
T,T,i-2,y,  Bourbons  in,  184-87,  420, 
422,  475,  516-18;  causes  of  decay, 
37-40,  108-10,  116-17;  colonies  of, 
13-14,  332-33,  422-23,  517,  518- 
19;  England  and,  114,  122-25, 
139-40,  145,  152-54,  162,  173, 
238-39,  241-42,  332-33,  402-3, 
409,  422-23;  France  and,  29-31, 
36.  38,  71,  75-76,  79,  112-13,  122, 
162,  178-80,  182-84,  197-98,  201, 
222,  276,  283,  285,  371,  381;  Ger- 
many and,  107-8,  184;  govern- 
ment. 38-40,  108-9,  116,  518;  In- 
quisition in,  39-40,  101-2,  109- 
10,111,420,516;  Italy  and,  29-31, 
36,  38,  71,  76,  112-13,  178-79, 
183-84;    literature    and   art,    irS; 


Index 


66 1 


Moors  in,  37,  39,  109-10,  116-17; 
Napoleon  and,  401-3,409;  Nether- 
lands and,  112-14,  158,  160-74, 
222;  Portugal  and,  13,  115;  re- 
bellion of  (1820),  420-23;  Spanish 
Succession  War,  284-87,  329-30; 
Turks  and,  79,  107,  1 14-15 

Spanish-American  War,  518-19 

Spanish  Succession  War,  284-87 

"Spanish  Fury,"  169 

Spenser,  Edmund,  156 

Spinoza,  176 

Stadtholder  of  Netherlands,  168, 175, 
281 

Stafford,  Thomas  Wentworth,  earl 
of,  see  Wentworth,  Sir  Thomas 

Stamp  Act,  339 

Stanislaus  Lesczinski,  king  of  Poland, 
296 

Star  Chamber,  Court  of,  42,  248 

States-General  of  France,  36,  201, 
345.  353;  of  the  Netherlands,  158, 
i6i,  524 

States  of  the  Church  (Papal  States), 
33-35;  ^«e  Pope,  Church 

St.  Bartholomew,  massacre  of,  187, 
190-92 

St.  Germain,  Peace  of  (1570),  189, 
190 

St.  Helena,  Napoleon  conveyed  to, 
411 

St.  Petersburg,  founding  of,  297 

Storthing,     Norwegian     parliament, 

528 

Strasburg,  224,  282 

Streltsi,  291-93 

Stein  (Prussian  statesman),  407,  418 

Stettin,  acquired  by  Prussia,  3x1 

Stuarts,  231-71;  deposition  of,  254; 
restoration  of,  261 

Suez  Canal,  576 

Supreme  Being,  cult  of,  378-79,  392 

Suspects,  Law  of  the,  373 

Sweden,  Charles  XII.  rules,  294-98; 
Gustavus  Adolphus  rules,  212, 
2i6,  294;  independence  gained 
under  Gustavus  Vasa,  86;   Louis 


XIV.  and,  280,  281,  307-8; 
mistress  of  the  Baltic,  216,  290, 
294-97;  Norway  and,  528-29; 
Poland  and,  295-97,  298;  Prussia 
and,  294,  298,  307-8,  310-11; 
Reformation  in,  86;  Richelieu  and, 
218,  222;  Russia  and,  290,  293-98; 
Seven  Years'  War,  318,  319; 
Thirty  Years'  War,  216-22,  224, 
294 
Swiss  Guard  of  Louis  XVI.,  massacre 

of,  3(>7 
Switzerland  (Swiss  Confederation), 
86-97,  226,  521-24;  Congress  of 
Vienna  and,  522;  government,  522; 
Reformation  in,  87-97;  Treaty  of 
Westphalia  and,  226,  521 

Talleyrand,  409,  415 

Tenth  Penny,  tax  in    Netherlands, 

167-68 
Test  Act,  English,  267-68,  269,  272, 

482 
Tetzel,  67,  68 
Teutonic  Knights,  304 
Thermidorians,  rule  of,  380-83 
Thermidor,  9th  of,  fall  of  Robespierre, 

379 
Thiers,   historian    and   President   of 

the  French  Republic,  440-41,  478 
Third  Estate  (tiers  etat,  bourgeoisie), 

24,  47.  348-49.  353-54 
Thirty  Years'  War,   207-27;   Bohe- 
mian   Period,     208-10;     Palatine 
Period,    210-12;    Danish    Period, 
212-16;   Swedish  Period,   216-22; 
French  Period,  222-24;  Peace  of 
Westphalia,    224-27;     effects     on 
Germany,  223,  226 
Thorn,  Treaty  of,  304 
Three  Henries,  War  of,  193 
Tilly,  General,  210,  212,  214,  218- 

19 
Tilsit,  Peace  of,  398-401,  404-5 
Toleration  Act,  of  England,  272-73, 

Toleration  Edict  of  France,  188 


662 


Index 


Toleration,   religious,   82,    188,    196, 

199-200,  227,  23s,  253,  259,  266, 

269,  272-73,  413,  482,  487 
Tonkin,  507 
Tonnage   and   poundage,    241,    243, 

244,  249 
Tories,    268-69,    271,    286,    329-31, 

481-84;  see  Conservative  Party 
Toul,  83.  184,  224 
Toulon,  revolt  of,  376;  Napoleon  at, 

377.  382,  386 
Trafalgar,  battle  of,  399-400,  402 
Transvaal,  488 
Trent,  Council  of,  80,   102-5;  work 

of,  102-4,  204 
Triennial  Act,  English,  249 
Triple  Alliance  (1667),   29;   (1883), 

505,  507,  511,  515,  550,  555 
Troppau,  Congress  of,  421 
Tudor,  House  of,  41 
Tudor    monarchy,    41-43,     119-56, 

Tuileries,    royal    family     prisoners 
in,    359;    massacre    of    the    Swiss 
Guard    at,    367;    invaded    by    re- 
publican mob,  441;  burned  during 
the  Commune,  479 
Tunis,  504,  508,  537 
Turenne,  Marshal,  223,  280 
Turgot  (French  statesman),  353 
Turkey,  England  and,  426,  489-90, 
493.    494-96.    499;    Congress    of 
Berlin,  496-97;  Crimean  War,  460- 
62,   489,    495;    European    Powers 
and,    461,    489,    494,    495,    496; 
Greece  and,  424-27,  493-95;  loss 
cfEgypt, 494-95, 499,  554-55;  Rus- 
sia    and,     426,    489-90,     493~99; 
liquidation  of,  595-96 
Turks,  10,  28,  32,  78-79, 107,  114-15. 

292,  293,  300-1,  425,  493-99 
Tuscany,  33,  417.  449.  45° 
Two  Sicilies,  30,  417 
Tyrol,    given    Bavaria,    395;    rises 
against  French,  403 

Ulrica  Eleanor,  queen  of  Sweden,  298 


Ulster,  326 

Ultra-royalist,  party  in  France,  429- 

30 
United  Netherlands,  169-70 
United  Provinces;  see  Holland 
United  States.  239,  339,  422-23,  518- 

19;  in  world  war,  578-82 
Universities,  mediaeval    17,  62 
Utrecht,  Peace  of,  287,  329-30 
Utrecht,  union  of,  170-71,  174;   see 

Dutch  Republic 

Valmy,  battle  of,  369 

Van  Dyck,  177 

\'asa,  Gustavus,  86 

Vassy,  massacre  of,  188-89 

Vatican,  palace  of,  467,  503 

Vauban,  285 

Venetia,   417,    450,    463,    466,    472; 

see  Venice 
Venice,  Austria  and,  384,  415,  463; 

see  Venetia;  ceded  to  France,  395; 

insurrection  (1848),  449-50;  power 

and    decay,    9-10,     31-32,     114; 

united  to  Italy,  466 
Velasquez,  118 
Vendee,  La,  insurrection  in,  376-"'7, 

439 

Verdun,  83,  184,  224 

Verona,  Congress  of,  422 

Versailles,  277,  288;  Peace  of  (1783), 
339;  (1871),  477;  banquet  of,  358; 
mob  invades,  358-59;  States- 
General  assemble  at,  353;  King 
William  takes  the  title  of  emperor 
in,  478;  peace  of  (1919),  589-92 

Vervins,  Peace  of,  197 

Victor  Emmanuel  II.,  450,  45*, 
462—67 

Victoria  of  England,  490 

Vienna,  206,  286;  besieged  by  Turks, 
78;  Congress  of,  407,  414-19.  432, 
522,  524;  Napoleon  takes,  395; 
Peace  of,  403;  revolution  (1848), 
445-46,  452-53 

Villele,  ultra-royalist  French  minister, 

429-30 


Index 


663 


Vind,  Leonardo  da,  18,  22 
Uoltaire,  316,  351 

Voyages,  Portuguese,  lo-ii;  Spanish, 
11-13 

Wagram,  battle  of,  403 

Waldenses,  54;  massacre  of,  182 

Wallenstein,  213-21 

Walpole,  Sir  Robert,  331-33,  334 

Washington,  George,  339 

Warsaw,  duchy  of,  398,403,416,435; 

insurrection  in,  436 
Wartburg,  castle  of,  71,  73 
Waterloo,  battle  of,  411 
Wellesley,  Sir  Arthur;  see  Wellington 
Wellington,  duke  of,  403,  409,  411, 

483 

Wentworth,  Sir  Thomas,  244,  245- 
46,  248 

Westphalia,  Peace  of,  174,  201,  224- 
27,  276;  kingdom  of,  398,  403 

Whigs,  268-69,  271,  286,  329-32, 
483-84;  set  Liberal  Party 

White  Hill,  battle  of,  210 

Wilhelmina,  queen  of  the  Nether- 
lands. 525 

William  I.,  king  of  the  Netherlands, 

432-33.  524 

William  I.  of  Orange  (the  Silent), 
161,  163,  165-72 

William  I.  of  Prussia  and  the  Ger- 
man Empire,  468-69,  473,  475, 
476,  478 


William   II.,  emperor   of   Germany, 

511-12,  552;  deposed,  583 
William  III.  of  England,   367,    370, 

271,   381,   383,   284,   323-27,   336; 

see  William  III.  erf  Orange 
William   III.    of    Orange,    267,   270, 

271,  281,  283;   see  William  III.  of 

England 
Windischgraetz,     Austrian     general, 

453 
Wittelsbach,  House  of,  322 

Wittenberg,  65,  68,  73 
Witt,  John  de,  280-81 
Wolsey,  Cardinal,  124,  127;  his  dis- 
grace, 127 
Worms,  Diet  of,  70-72;  Edict  of,  72, 

77 
Wurtemberg,    kingdom    of,    395-96, 

417.  434 
Wyclif,  John,  55,  60 

Yorktown,  surrender  of,  339 
Young,    Arthur    (English  traveller), 

349-5° 

Zealand,  159,  168,  170,  172 

Zollverein,  434 

Zurich,  Reformation  in,  89 

Zwingli,  Ulrich,  87-90;  as  humanist 
and  democrat,  88;  quarrel  with 
Luther,  89;  opposed  by  Forest 
cantons,  90 


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